Pak's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt seeks halt to Afghan refugee repatriation amid earthquake crisis

Peshawar, Sep 4 (PTI) Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government on Thursday urged the federal authorities to immediately suspend the repatriation of Afghan refugees on humanitarian grounds in view of the devastating earthquake that has struck Afghanistan.

Over 2,200 people died as a 6.0 magnitude quake struck several provinces of Afghanistan on Sunday night.

In a statement, Advisor to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government on Information Muhammad Ali Saif said Afghanistan is reeling under widespread destruction and loss of lives caused by the quake and a country already crippled by poverty cannot bear the additional burden of receiving returning refugees.

He noted that a considerable number of those killed and injured in the recent earthquake were among the repatriated Afghans.

“In such circumstances, Afghanistan deserves assistance, not further hardship,” Saif, who is also the provincial government’s spokesperson, stressed.

Forcing the return of refugees to a poverty-stricken nation in the aftermath of a natural disaster is not only morally unjust but also practically impossible for Afghanistan to manage, he said.

Saif said Afghanistan urgently needed international cooperation and support, and as a neighbouring Muslim country, Pakistan bore a special responsibility to extend help.

He said the provincial government was providing maximum assistance to Afghan earthquake victims despite its limited resources.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, in a meeting with the Afghan ambassador, offered free healthcare and all possible support for the victims. Following the Chief Minister’s directives, 35 trucks carrying relief supplies had already been handed over to Afghan authorities, the spokesperson said.

Pakistan launched a repatriation campaign for undocumented Afghans in 2023, which was intensified in April this year. The federal government cancelled the residence permits of hundreds of thousands of Afghans and warned that those overstaying would face arrest.

So far, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan, including over 200,000 since April 2025 alone. PTI AYZ SCY SCY SCY