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Pakistani authorities have resumed deportation of Afghan refugees after the federal government refused to extend the stay deadline, officials said.
The decision affected around 1.4 million Afghans who hold proof of registration (POR) cards, and their legal status expired at the end of June.
Many wanted a year extension to resolve personal issues, such as property sales and business deadlines, before returning to Afghanistan.
In addition to POR card holders, around 800,000 Afghans carry Afghan citizen cards.
Police say they live in the country illegally and are being detained prior to deportation in eastern Punjab, southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh.
Monday’s decision attracted criticism from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a UN refugee agency.
At least 1.2 million Afghan nationals have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year, according to a June report issued by UNHCR.
Such a massive repatriation could destabilize the vulnerable situation in Afghanistan, when the Taliban government came to power in 2021.
A government notice on July 31 confirmed Pakistan’s decision to deport all Afghan nationals who hold expired POR cards.
It states that Afghans without valid passports and Pakistani visas are illegally located in the country and must return to their homeland under local immigration law.
Police across Pakistan are detaining Afghans to transport them to the border crossing, according to two governments and security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly.
They were not made on a major arrest, the police were told to go from home to home and to do random checks to detain foreigners who illegally live in the country.
“Yes, Afghan refugees living illegally in Pakistan are being sent back in a dignified way,” said Sheikh Khan, Afghan refugee commissioner in Afghanistan’s Hiber Paktongkwa province.
The latest business is the most important step under the orders from the federal government in Islamabad, he said.
Rehamato Ula, a 35-year-old Afghan national, said his family had moved to Peshawar city in the northwest of Pakistan decades ago and is now preparing to return home.
“I have five children, and my concern is that they miss their education,” he said. “I was born here, my children were born here, and now we are back.”
Millions have fled to Pakistan over the past 40 years to escape the war, political unrest and economic hardships in Afghanistan.
The updated deportation drive targets foreigners living illegally in Pakistan following the nationwide crackdown that began in 2023.
The Home Office, which oversees the campaign, did not immediately comment.
Kaiser Khan Afridi, a spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, expressed deep concern about the government’s actions.
“Sending people back in this way is equivalent to a violation of the refulemement and the state’s international obligations,” Afridi said in a statement, urging Pakistan to adopt “a humanitarian approach to ensuring the voluntary, progressive and dignified return of Afghans.”
“A rushing back on such a large scale could put the lives and freedoms of Afghan refugees at risk, while jeopardizing instability not only in Afghanistan but throughout the region.”
Additional sources •AP
