ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State Minister for Interior, Talal Chaudhry, said on Friday 907,391 Afghans had been deported since the government launched an expulsion drive against illegal foreigners in 2023, as Kabul called for the “dignified repatriation” of its citizens.
Islamabad launched the deportation campaign in November 2023, asking all foreigners without legal documentation to leave the country. Earlier this year, it launched the second phase of deportations, setting a deadline of Mar. 31 for people with Afghan Citizen Cards (ACCs) — which since 2017 have granted temporary legal status to Afghans — to leave the country or face being deported.
According to UN data, Pakistan has hosted more than 2.8 million Afghan nationals who crossed the border in a desperate attempt to escape decades of war and instability in their home country. Around 1.3 million are formally registered as refugees and hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, which grant them legal protection. Another 800,000 Afghans possess ACCs, a separate identity document issued by the Pakistani government that recognizes them as Afghan nationals without conferring refugee status.
“Pakistan has sent back 907,351 people in a dignified manner to Afghanistan as of today, this includes both the first and second phases,” Chaudhry told reporters in Islamabad.
“In the second phase, as of today, 84,871 people have been sent back, of which only 25,320 were ACC holders, and the rest were all illegal, who did not have registration of any kind.”
He said those awaiting deportation were being accommodated with Hajj pilgrims at the Hajj Complex in Islamabad and were being treated “fairly.”
Separately, an Afghan delegation led by Industry and Commerce Minister AlHajj Nooruddin Azizi and comprising Deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Sheikh Kaleemur Rahman Fani met Chaudhry to discuss the repatriation of Afghan refugees.
“In addition to remarks on trade and transit, H.E. Nooruddin Azizi emphasized that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan seeks a dignified process for the repatriation of Afghan refugees,” the Afghan Embassy in Pakistan said on X.
The Afghan refugees minister proposed the formation of a high-level committee comprising officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and relevant international organizations to address “refugee-related issues in a coordinated manner.”
The Afghan embassy quoted Chaudhry as saying Afghan refugees were “still considered guests in Pakistan” and efforts were underway to repatriate them in a “respectful” manner.
“The meeting concluded with an emphasis on conducting in-depth discussions on refugee matters during upcoming high-level engagements between the two countries,” it added.
Afghanistan has called for the peaceful and coordinated repatriation of its citizens amid reports of arrests and harassment during Pakistan’s mass expulsion drive. Islamabad denies the accusations and has urged Kabul to facilitate the reintegration of its citizens.
Pakistan’s deportation policy in 2023 followed a rise in militant attacks, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. Islamabad has in the past blamed militant attacks and other crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country.
The government says militants, especially from the Pakistani Taliban also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are using safe havens in Afghanistan and links with Afghans residing in Pakistan to launch cross-border attacks. The ruling administration in Kabul has rejected the accusations.
