Islamabad, April 23 Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that over 100,000 Afghan nationals living in the country have left for Afghanistan as the April 30 deadline for the return of illegal Afghan nationals and holders of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) approaches. In the past three weeks, Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghan nationals from the country after Islamabad announced cancellation of their residence permits and set a deadline of April 30 to expel undocumented Afghans back home.
This is the second drive of expulsion and repatriation of Afghan nationals after the first phase launched in 2023 when expulsion and a crackdown against all illegal and undocumented Afghan nationals, who have been living in Pakistan for decades, began. Under the first phase, all illegal and undocumented Afghans were given an opportunity to voluntarily leave the country or be apprehended by the authorities before being deported to Afghanistan.
In the ongoing second phase, Pakistan also announced inclusion of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, setting a March 31 deadline for voluntary repatriation and April 30 for all undocumented Afghans to be expelled from the country via the Torkham border.
"During the first three weeks of April, 100,529 Afghans have left the country," confirmed the Interior Ministry.
Convoys filled with Afghan families are seen heading towards the Torkham border daily since the deadline of voluntary repatriation expired in March. Many Afghan families forced to leave the country have alleged mistreatment and humiliation at the hands of Pakistani police authorities.
"I was born in Pakistan and have never been to Afghanistan. I was afraid the police might humiliate me and my family. Now we're heading back to Afghanistan out of sheer helplessness," said Allah Rahman, a 27-year-old Afghan national, who was born in Pakistan.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed that while many Afghans are leaving Pakistan voluntarily, arrests and detentions are also increasing with each passing day.
As per UNHCR, at least 12,948 arrests and detentions took place in Pakistan during the year 2024.
On the other hand, Afghanistan has also condemned the reported mistreatment of its citizens in Pakistan, calling on the Pakistan government to ensure and "facilitate the dignified return" of Afghan refugees.
The matter was also raised during the meeting between Afghanistan's Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during the latter's recent day-long trip to Kabul.
With more than half of the deported Afghan nationals being women and children, the UNHCR has expressed serious concerns over their future as Afghanistan is a country where education beyond secondary school remains barred for many.
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