Pakistan's Deportation Of Afghans 'Couldn't Have Happened At A Worse Time,' UNHCR Says

Afghan refugees sit outside their tents at a makeshift camp upon their arrival from Pakistan near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar Province on November 12.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Afghanistan says the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Afghans from Pakistan threatens to deepen the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The agency said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on November 17 that most of the returning Afghans have neither jobs nor homes and noted that Pakistan undertook the action just before winter. “The mass arrivals couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” UNHCR Afghanistan said. Islamabad announced last month that more than 1.7 million undocumented foreigners must leave by November 1 or face arrests and deportations. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.