Pakistan starts deporting registered Afghan refugees

6/8/2025 18:25

Pakistan has

started to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its

deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, in

a move that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from

the country.



The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that

it had received reports of arrests and expulsions of legally

registered Afghans across the country before Pakistan's

September 1 deadline for them to leave.



The UNHCR said that sending the Afghans back in this way was

a breach of Pakistan's international obligations.



"UNHCR is calling on the government to stop the forcible

return and adopt a humane approach to ensure voluntary, gradual,

and dignified return of Afghans," it said in a statement.



The voluntary return of the documented refugees shall

commence forthwith, said a Pakistan's interior ministry order

seen by Reuters. It said the formal deportation process will

start after the deadline.



But Qaisar Khan Afridi, a spokesman for the UNHCR, told

Reuters on Wednesday that hundreds of legally registered Afghan

refugees had already been detained and deported to Afghanistan

from August 1 to August 4.



The interior ministry did not respond a Reuters request for

a comment.



More than 1.3 million Afghans hold documentation known as

Proof of Registration cards, while 750,000 more have another

form of registration known as an Afghan Citizen Card.



Many Afghans have been settled in Pakistan since the 1980s,

to escape cycles of war in Afghanistan.



"Such massive and hasty return could jeopardize the lives

and freedom of Afghan refugees, while also risking instability

not only in Afghanistan but across the region," UNHRC said.



Pakistani authorities have said that Islamabad wants all

Afghan nationals to leave except for those who have valid visas.



The repatriation drive by Pakistan is part of a campaign

called the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan launched in late

2023.



Pakistan has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes

on Afghan citizens, who form the largest migrant group in the

country. Afghanistan has rejected the accusations, and has

termed the repatriations as forced deportation.



In addition to the repatriation from Pakistan, Afghanistan

also faces a fresh wave of mass deportations from Iran.



Aid groups worry that the influx risks further destabilising

the country.