Rights group says Pakistan has 'forced' mass Afghan refugee returns

Afghan refugee children play at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Parwiz

KABUL (Reuters) - The number of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan, already at the highest level in years, may increase this year if Pakistan maintains its forceful policies, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees left Pakistan, a 12-year-high that the rights group called the "world's largest unlawful mass forced return of refugees in recent times".