<\/p>\n
With only a day to go until the government\u2019s deadline for illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan expires, the Foreign Office (FO) on Monday said that the decision to expel such individuals was in exercise of the country\u2019s domestic laws and \u201ccompliant with applicable international norms and principles\u201d.<\/p>\n
The statement was issued in response to the Of\u00ad\u00adfice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which had called<\/a> on the Pakistani government to \u201csuspend forcible returns of Afghan nationals before it is too late to avoid a human rights catastrophe\u201d.<\/p>\n While the government\u2019s decision had prompted criticism from Afghanistan<\/a>, Pakistan has said<\/a> that it is not aimed at any particular ethnic group.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on them to continue providing protection to those in need and ensure that any fut\u00adure returns are safe, dignified and voluntary, and fully consistent with int\u00adernational law,\u201d OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Sha\u00ad\u00admdasani said in a sta\u00adtement<\/a> from Geneva on Friday.<\/p>\n