BRUSSELS, – Pakistani government’s decision to return close to one million of Afghans illegally residing in Pakistan is something that gives rise to a number of questions, an EU spokesperson said Thursday.
“Our general position is that forced return of Afghanis with the defacto protection status would go against Pakistan’s internal commitment. This is something that we are conveying to our Pakistani partners,” Peter Stano, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy , told a news conference.
“Of course the situation in Afghanistan is very complicated and conditions not conducive to sustainable return and their integration, and this may lead to a situation of re-entry into Pakistan by those Afghans who feel threatened and try by other ways to go back to Pakistan,” he noted.
“We are watching this, following this, coordinating this with international partners and raising this also with Pakistani authorities,” he added.
According to media reports, Pakistan has ordered nearly 1.7 million undocumented Afghan refugees to leave the country and authorities began rounding up operations across the country after a deadline for voluntary exits expired on November 1.
Source: Kuwait News Agency