Pakistan orders mass expulsion of legal Afghan refugees, UN warns of international law breach

Peshawar [Pakistan], August 3 : In an alarming escalation, the Pakistani federal government has ordered the expulsion of over one million Afghan nationals legally residing in the country with Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.

According to Dawn News outlet, the Ministry of Interior issued a Special Regulatory Order (SRO) on July 31, declaring PoR cards expired as of June 30, effectively criminalising the stay of all Afghans still in Pakistan under this category.

This decision now places registered refugees, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades, in imminent danger of arrest, detention, and deportation. Dawn News reported that the government has empowered police, district administration, and prison authorities to arrest and detain PoR cardholders without judicial review under the Foreigners Act of 1946, a colonial-era law used historically to suppress marginal communities.

UNHCR Pakistan has raised grave concerns over the development, warning that forced repatriations violate international legal principles, including the right to non-refoulement. Dawn News quoted UNHCR spokesman Qaiser Khan Afridi as saying, "Forced returns could breach the principle of non-refoulement, where states are bound not to return people to countries where their life or freedom could be threatened."

This abrupt revocation of legal refugee status is being condemned as both inhumane and politically motivated. Afghan community leaders, such as Syed Naqeeb Badshah of the Muttahida Afghan Tajir Ittehad, called the move "cruel and irrational." Speaking to Dawn News, he said, "The Pakistani government wakes up one fine day and asks 40,000 Afghan businessmen, including 559 who have invested over Rs1 billion, to leave immediately. This makes no sense."

Despite assurances in June and July by the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (Safron) that no action would be taken against PoR cardholders, the recent SRO nullifies those assurances, triggering widespread fear. Dawn News reports that Afghan refugees, including skilled workers and business owners, now live in a state of fear and uncertainty.

A leather garment designer told Dawn News anonymously, "We are not refugees; we are taxpayers, businesspeople. Yet there's no forum left where we could even petition."

This mass expulsion follows Pakistan's broader anti-refugee campaign launched in November 2023 under the so-called "Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan." The campaign has already forced over 1.14 million Afghans to return. According to IOM data cited by Dawn News, 93% of returnees between July 1-15 left out of fear of arrest.

Pakistan's latest crackdown starkly illustrates how human rights and legal protections can be stripped overnight, placing vulnerable populations at the mercy of a system that sees legality not as a shield, but a weapon.

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