ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has repatriated more than 2.8 million Afghans since launching a nationwide deportation campaign three years ago, authorities said on Wednesday, a day after a US judge temporarily blocked plans to deport detained Afghan nationals through Pakistan amid fears for their safety.

Pakistan launched the campaign in 2023 following a surge in deadly militant attacks, including suicide bombings that Islamabad blamed partly on Afghan nationals. The expulsions have since become a major source of friction with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, amid deteriorating relations and repeated border clashes between the neighbors.

Initially targeting undocumented migrants, the campaign was gradually expanded to include Afghans who had held government-issued registration cards and previously enjoyed protection from deportation. Islamabad maintains that all foreign nationals must possess valid visas to remain in the country.

“A total of 2,807,250 Afghan nationals have so far been repatriated from Pakistan to Afghanistan,” the Punjab Home Department said in a statement. “Of these, 143,474 Afghan nationals residing illegally in Punjab have been repatriated to their home country.”

“Under the clear policy of the Government of Pakistan, the stay of all Afghan nationals without a valid visa is illegal,” it added.

The statement said authorities were continuing to arrest Afghans without valid immigration documents and transfer them to holding centers before sending them across the border.

Punjab currently operates 39 such centers, housing 153 Afghan nationals awaiting repatriation, according to the statement. The facilities provide temporary accommodation and registration services before detainees are handed over to Afghan authorities at the Torkham border crossing.

The department said criminal cases had also been registered against 803 people accused of renting properties to Afghans residing in the province without valid immigration documents.

Authorities have also carried out more than 400,000 search operations in residential areas and markets across Punjab as part of the crackdown, according to the statement.

“The figures reflect the Punjab government’s effective strategy and active administrative measures,” the statement said.

Authorities urged the public to report suspected illegal residence, identity fraud or suspicious activities involving Afghan nationals to the police emergency helpline, promising to protect the identities of informants.

US DEPORTATION PLAN BLOCKED

The latest Pakistani figures emerged a day after US District Judge Valerie Caproni in New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plans to deport detained Afghans to Afghanistan or through Pakistan, following warnings that some could face persecution, torture or death.

According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press, US authorities had planned deportation flights from Louisiana to Pakistan, where the Afghans could face onward removal to their Taliban-ruled homeland.

Immigrant rights groups said more than 80 detained Afghans had contacted advocates after being notified that they could be deported through Pakistan, including women, religious minorities and people with family members who served in the US military.

The US government told the court on Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no chartered or commercial flights scheduled to deport Afghans to Afghanistan or Pakistan before the end of the week. Caproni’s order, which expires Saturday, requires officials to adhere to that assurance.

“Today is a good day,” Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization advocating for Afghan immigrants, told reporters. “But I want to be honest with you, this is a reprieve, not a resolution. We haven’t stopped this fight forever. This is just a pause.”

Savitri Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, warned that Afghans returned to their homeland “face grave, systematic dangers,” including arbitrary detention, executions, public flogging and retaliatory violence.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry also expressed concern over the proposed transfers, with deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad Takal saying “third-party countries should not engage in dealings concerning the fate of another nation’s citizens.”

Immigrant rights advocates have also raised concerns about Pakistan’s potential role in facilitating the deportations, saying details of any arrangements between Islamabad and Washington have not been made public.

Pakistan’s latest statement did not address the proposed US transfers or indicate whether Islamabad had agreed to receive Afghan nationals deported from the United States.

The Punjab Home Department said its operations were directed only against Afghans residing in the country illegally, adding that its Foreign National Security Wing was coordinating and monitoring the campaign across the province.

-With inputs from AP.