PESHAWAR: Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year, as a deadline for them to voluntarily leave the capital and surrounding areas expired on Monday.
It’s the latest phase of a nationwide crackdown launched in October 2023 to expel foreigners living in Pakistan illegally, mostly Afghans. The campaign has drawn fire from rights groups, the Taliban government, and the UN
Arrests and deportations were due to begin April 1 but were pushed back to April 10 because of the Eid Al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan, according to government documents seen by The Associated Press.
About 845,000 Afghans have left Pakistan over the past 18 months, figures from the International Organization for Migration show.
Pakistan says 3 million Afghans remain. Of these, 1,344,584 hold Proof of Registration cards, while 807,402 have Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans who are in the country illegally because they have no paperwork.
Pakistan said it will make sure that Afghans do not return once deported.
Authorities wanted Afghan Citizen cardholders to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31 and return to Afghanistan voluntarily or be deported.
Those with Proof of Registration can stay in Pakistan until June 30, while Afghans bound for third-country resettlement must also leave Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31.
Authorities have said they will work with foreign diplomatic missions to resettle Afghans, failing which they will also be deported from Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of Afghans fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021. They were approved for resettlement in the US through a program that helps people at risk because of their work with the American government, media, aid agencies, and rights groups.
However, President Donald Trump paused US refugee programs in January and 20,000 Afghans are now in limbo.
The Taliban want Afghan refugees to return with dignity
“No Afghan officials to be made part of any committee or formal decision-making process,” one of the documents said about the expulsion plans.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Refugee Ministry, Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, told The Associated Press that Pakistan was taking decisions arbitrarily, without involving the UN refugee agency or the Taliban government.
“We have shared our problems with them, stating that unilaterally expelling refugees is neither in their interest nor ours,” said Haqqani. “It is not in their interest because expelling them in this way raises hatred against Pakistan.
“For us, it is natural that managing so many Afghans coming back is a challenge. We have requested they should be deported through a mechanism and mutual understanding so they can return with dignity.”
Two transit stations will be set up in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to help with deportations. One will be in Nasir Bagh, an area in the Peshawar suburbs. The second will be in the border town of Landi Kotal, some 7 kilometers from the Torkham crossing.
Afghans are unsure of their future in a country they don’t know
It is not clear what will happen to children born in Pakistan to Afghan parents, Afghan couples with different document types, and families where one parent is a Pakistani citizen and the other is Afghan. But officials indicated to the AP that social welfare staff will be on hand to help with such cases.
Omaid Khan, 30, has an Afghan Citizen Card while his wife has Proof of Registration. According to Pakistani government policy, he has to leave but his wife can stay until June 30. Their two children have no documents, including passports or identity cards from either country.
“I am from Paktia province but I have never been there and I am not sure about my future,” he said.
Nazir Ahmed was born in the southwest Pakistani city of Quetta and has never been to Afghanistan. His only connection to the country was through his father, who died in Quetta four years ago.
“How can we go there?” said Ahmed, who is 21. “Few people know us. All our relatives live in Quetta. What will we do if we go there? We appeal to the Pakistani government to give us some time so we can go and find out, at least get some employment.”
Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year
https://arab.news/wv2su
Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year
- It’s the latest phase of a nationwide crackdown launched to expel foreigners living in Pakistan illegally
- The expulsion campaign has drawn fire from rights groups, the Taliban government and the United Nations
Sindh government announces compensation as 15 killed, 65 missing after Karachi mall blaze
- 15 confirmed dead include firefighter, $36,000 per victim pledged as search continues
- Traders seek urgent rehabilitation after 1,200 shops destroyed in Saddar building inferno
ISLAMABAD: The Sindh provincial government on Monday announced compensation for victims of a deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Karachi, saying 15 people were confirmed dead while 65 were reported missing as recovery operations continued at the site.
The blaze broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business district and spread rapidly through multiple floors, trapping shoppers and workers inside the densely packed building. 15 deaths have been confirmed so far, including a firefighter, while debris removal and search operations remain underway, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told reporters on Monday afternoon.
Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and heavy economic losses.
Announcing relief measures, Shah said the provincial government would provide Rs10 million ($36,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed in the fire, which destroyed over 1,200 shops in the plaza.
“On behalf of the government of Sindh, we will give one crore rupees to every person who has lost his life,” Shah said at a press conference, adding that payments would begin once documentation was completed.
Shah said one of the15 victims was a firefighter he identified by his first name, Furqan, who died while battling the blaze, noting that Furqan’s father had also been killed in the line of duty years earlier. Shah said the Karachi mayor had been directed to ensure care for the firefighter’s family.
The chief minister also announced the formation of a joint committee involving provincial officials and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to assess losses and oversee rehabilitation of affected traders. He said temporary arrangements were being explored to relocate 1,000 to 1,200 shops so businesses could resume operations as quickly as possible.
Citing past precedents such as the Bolton Market arson and Cooperative Market fire, Shah said similar compensation and recovery mechanisms had helped traders rebuild their livelihoods and would guide the current response.
Karachi has previously suffered devastating commercial fires that prompted large-scale compensation and rehabilitation efforts.
In 2009, a massive arson attack at Bolton Market, one of the city’s oldest wholesale hubs, destroyed hundreds of shops and disrupted supply chains across the city. The federal and Sindh governments later approved special relief packages that funded compensation, reconstruction and the rebuilding of fire-hit markets. More recently, fires at the Cooperative Market and Victoria Building areas again wiped out clusters of small traders, leading authorities to reuse leftover funds from earlier relief schemes to compensate affected businesses. Officials say these precedents have shaped the province’s current approach to combining government support with trader-led assessments to restore livelihoods after major disasters.
KCCI said on Sunday preliminary assessments showed more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were completely destroyed in the latest fire, leaving thousands of families without incomes. Traders have urged both provincial and federal authorities to announce a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
Authorities have ordered a formal inquiry into the incident, with Shah stressing that the investigation would focus on identifying systemic failures rather than assigning blame.
He said a fire safety audit covering 145 buildings, conducted in 2024, would now be enforced immediately, alongside mandatory installation of fire alarms in commercial markets across the city.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also offered full federal support, calling for a “coordinated and effective system” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Battling large fires in Karachi’s congested commercial districts remains notoriously difficult. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders, while buildings often lack functioning fire exits, alarms or sprinkler systems.
Although safety regulations exist, inspections are sporadic and penalties rarely enforced, allowing hazardous wiring and flammable materials to go unchecked — conditions that enable fires to spread rapidly and magnify human and economic losses.
