Thousands of Afghans who were registered as refugees have surged over the border from Pakistan in recent days, with returns escalating despite the weekend's deadly earthquake in Afghanistan, according to officials.

"Given the circumstances, I appeal to the (government of Pakistan) to pause the implementation of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan," Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said on X.

His appeal came as rescue teams continued struggling Wednesday to reach survivors after a shallow magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late on Sunday, collapsing mud-brick homes on families as they slept.

The earthquake killed a total of 1,469 people and injured more than 3,700, according to a new toll from Taliban authorities, making it one of the deadliest in decades to hit the impoverished country.

Grandi said on X that the earthquake had "affected more than 500,000 people in eastern Afghanistan", stressing that "aid from donors, including Pakistan, is vital and welcome".

Pakistan has hosted Afghans fleeing violence for more than four decades, from the Soviet invasion to the 2021 Taliban takeover.

Various cohorts of Afghans have found differing degrees of stability, including access to work and education, in Pakistan. Some were born and raised there, while others transited en route to resettlement in the West.

However, Pakistan's government, citing an uptick in violent attacks and insurgent campaigns, launched a crackdown in 2023 to evict them, painting the population as "terrorists and criminals".

More than 1.2 million Afghans have since been forced to return from Pakistan, including more than 443,000 this year alone, according to the United Nations.

The crackdown has most recently targeted an estimated 1.3 million refugees with Proof of Registration (PoR) cards issued by the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Islamabad has set a deadline of September 1 for them to leave or face arrest and deportation.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the refugee agency was "preparing for significantly more returns in the coming days" due to the deadline.

"These people, already with very little resources, are now returning to a disaster zone," he said.

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