- Sources say Afghan refugees will be sent back starting today.
- Federal govt decides against any extension to deadline.
- Policy to expel illegal immigrants part of peace and security efforts.
The process of the repatriation of afghan refugees residing illegally in Pakistan will begin today (Tuesday) as the March 31 deadline for the voluntary return has ended.
Sources affiliated with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department home department said that the Afghan refugees will be sent back to Afghanistan starting today (April 1).
The federal government had last week decided against any extension to the deadline despite requests from the Taliban government.
The government had also sought the record of Afghan students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the provincial government by March 27 for updating the Foreign National Security Cell’s dashboard related to foreign nationals and needed the data of Afghan students.
The policy to expel illegal immigrants comes as part of efforts being made to improve the security situation amid increasing terrorist attacks in the country — which Islamabad has time again blamed on terrorist groups operating from the Afghan territory.
So far, as many as 878,972 Afghans living in Pakistan illegally have returned to their country, reported Radio Pakistan today.
Meanwhile, human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to withdraw its “opaque” Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan regarding the expulsion of illegal immigrants and Afghan citizens residing in the country.
In a statement, the Amnesty said that Islamabad’s March 31 deadline for Afghans would exacerbate their woes.
It is to be noted that Pakistan hosts 2.1 million documented Afghans. There are hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals also living in Pakistan for decades.
“Out of the total 2.1 million, 1.3 million Afghan refugees are those who have obtained Proof of Registration Cards. Over 52% of them are in KP,” said United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Qasier Afridi.
He added that there were around 800,000 Afghans, who had obtained ACC cards and majority of them were living in KP.
The country has been hosting millions of Afghans for around five decades. Hundreds of thousands of them returned to their country in the last few years but still over 2.1 million are living in KP and other provinces.
The Pakistani authorities have set March 31 as the deadline for all the illegal Afghans as well as those who possessed ACC cards to return to their country.
There are tens of thousands of Afghans, who were born in Pakistan and hardly went to their homeland in their entire life.
A large number of them are once again concerned as the deadline approaches fast during the holy month.
Peshawar hosts the highest number of Afghan nationals than any other city. Thousands of them are doing their own businesses while others have been doing jobs in the city for the last many decades. They are living in many urban, suburban and rural areas along with the local populace.
In 2023, the government had set October 31 deadline only for the unregistered foreigners after which a large number of such undocumented Afghans returned to their homeland via Torkham and other border crossings.
Special camps were set up in Chamkani, Nowshera and other districts of the country for those returning to Afghanistan voluntarily.
