HRW raps Pak for 'forced' repatriation of Afghans

The number of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan, already at the highest level in years, may increase this year if Pakistan maintains its forceful policies, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees left Pakistan, a 12-year-high that the rights group called the "world's largest unlawful mass forced return of refugees in recent times".

Aid workers and Afghan officials worry that the returnees are coming back to a country in conflict and economic crisis, led by a government already struggling to maintain basic living standards.

Pakistan has provided millions of Afghans with refuge for decades, and police and officials deny reports that they are targeting Afghans, though officials have said they should go home.

Amid recent political tension between the uneasy neighbours, aid organizations have raised concerns over the treatment of Afghans in Pakistan.

HRW senior researcher Patricia Gossman told Reuters her group was highlighting the issue ahead of a meeting this week between Afghan, Pakistani, and U.N. officials, which is expected to set the stage for this year's refugee policies.

"We want to make sure that what happened last fall does not repeat," Gossman said, referring to what her group described as "a toxic combination of deportation threats and police abuses" of Afghans in Pakistan last year.