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U.N. Suspends Screening of Afghans After Deportations by Pakistan
In protest against Pakistan's decision to deport 28 families, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday announced the suspension of its screening program for Afghans living in Pakistan.
"UNHCR finds the Pakistani authorities' decision to deport 132 people to Afghanistan on Tuesday unfortunate and regrettable, and has temporarily suspended the Afghan screening process," the U.N. agency said in a press release.
It said the authorities acted in "clear breach" of an agreement between UNHCR and the Pakistani Government specifying that there would be no deportations from the affected areas during the screening process.
Among those deported were many elderly people, women, children and infants who had been living in the Jalozai camp in Pakistan where they would have been part of the screening exercise, according to UNHCR.
Over 100,000 Afghans have been pre-screened since the process started on August 6.
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