Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian impact of the decision of Pakistan to return refugees to Afghanistan.

Pakistan's Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan is having a significant humanitarian impact. The UN estimates that 260,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan since 15 September to avoid deportation. Many of those returning have lost their belongings and require humanitarian assistance at the border crossings. Since September, the UK has committed £16 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support vulnerable undocumented returnees from Pakistan and Iran. We recognise Pakistan's sovereign right to control its borders but are calling for measures to allow Afghans to register as refugees and ensure their human rights are respected.