UNHCR suspends Afghan refugees' repatriation from Pakistan over COVID-19

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that it has suspended voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan after the country temporarily closed border with Afghanistan over COVID-19.

The voluntary repatriation program resumed on March 2 after a three-month winter break. A total of 28 individuals have so far returned to Afghanistan this month, according to the UN refugee agency.

Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees who hold proof of registration cards and some 4.4 million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan under the UNHCR-facilitated voluntary repatriation operation since 2002, the UN refugee agency said.

Pakistan closed its border points -- Torkham in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaman in southwestern Balochistan this week as the country stepped up measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"Following the closure of the Torkham and Chaman official border-crossing points with Afghanistan, the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan has been suspended. This is due to precautionary measures taken by the government to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," a UNHCR's statement said.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has already surpassed 100 on Monday, according to officials.