Islamabad said on Wednesday that about 1.45 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan would be allowed to stay for another year but stressed that eviction of undocumented migrants would continue.
More than 600,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan since Islamabad last year ordered undocumented migrants to leave Pakistan or face arrest, as relations with Kabul soured over security issues.
Human rights observers have warned that those sent to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan were given little support and some faced abuse by Kabul’s new rulers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet said it had approved an extension till June 2025 for 1.45 million Afghan refugees legally living in the country who have registration certificate cards.
The validity of these cards expired at the end of last month, leaving their holders with no legal certainty about their right to stay in Pakistan.
Not all Afghan nationals in Pakistan have such cards and those who have them have also reported being harassed and threatened to leave the country.
Islamabad’s announcement came a day after the three-day visit of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi.
In a statement on Tuesday, the UNHCR said Grandi “appreciated that the ‘repatriation plan for illegal foreigners’ has been suspended”.
However a Foreign Office spokeswoman said this was “not true”.
Mumtaz Zehra Baloch told reporters in a statement: “No such consent has been given by Pakistan to UNHCR” and that the plan “is still in place and is being implemented in a systematic and phased manner”.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani immigration official at the Torkham border crossing said they had begun confiscating documents, including refugee registration cards, from Afghans crossing through the border.
“We are implementing this directive following instructions from the Interior Ministry,” the official at the busiest crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan said.
“The measure is aimed at ensuring they do not return to Pakistan but leave permanently, though they can re-enter after obtaining visas,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Millions of Afghans have come to Pakistan in the last few years, escaping decades-long conflict.
An estimated 600,000 people have arrived there since the Taliban government seized power in August 2021 and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
Islamabad had previously said its massive eviction plan was justified by security concerns and its faltering economy.
Analysts say he is piling pressure on Kabul over a rise in attacks in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan, where the Taliban government is accused of providing safe haven to militants.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
