GENEVA (Reuters) -&nbsp;UN&nbsp;human&nbsp;rights&nbsp;experts&nbsp;on Tuesday&nbsp;called on&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;to refrain from deporting Afghan nationals after Islamabad ordered all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghan citizens, to leave or face expulsion.
Pakistani authorities, who have given illegal immigrants&nbsp;until Nov. 1 to leave, linked the measures to their allegations that Afghan nationals were involved in several suicide bombings this year.
"We urge&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;to uphold the absolute and non-derogable principle of non-refoulement and prevent collective expulsion and forced return," the&nbsp;experts, a group of U.N. special rapporteurs, said in a statement.
"The lack of domestic asylum laws and procedures does not absolve states of their obligations to uphold the principle of non-refoulement&nbsp;under international human&nbsp;rights&nbsp;and customary law."
Pakistan&nbsp;has received the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.
Pakistan's diplomatic mission to the U.N. in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the&nbsp;experts' statement.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said this month that some 1.73 million Afghan nationals in&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;had no legal documents to stay, while the country was home to a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees.
Islamabad accuses Islamist militants of using Afghan soil to train fighters and plan attacks inside&nbsp;Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
The U.N.&nbsp;experts&nbsp;said&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;should continue to host Afghan nationals who fled for safety and stop forced returns.
"We are also concerned by reports that&nbsp;Afghans&nbsp;living in&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;have been subjected to arrests, exploitation and&nbsp;undignified treatment, including since&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;announced its repatriation&nbsp;plans," they said.
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(Reporting by Gabrielle T&eacute;trault-Farber; Editing by Grant McCool)

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