Pakistan deports over 100,000 Afghan refugees in last 3 weeks

KABUL (Pajhwok): More than 100,000 Afghan refugees have returned to the country during the past three weeks after being forcibly expelled from Pakistan, a media report said on Wednesday.

The deadline for the departure of Afghan refugees in Pakistan expired on March 31.

Dawn news reported more than 100,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in the past three weeks, including Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders who had been given multiple deadlines to voluntarily return.

It said the decision is part of broader “Illegal Foreigners Return Program” that began in November 2023 with the aim of deporting all undocumented foreigners from Pakistan.

The forced deportation of migrants from Pakistan has sparked widespread reactions.

On April 16, Acting Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan met with acting head of Pakistani embassy in Kabul Obaid Ul-Rahman Nizamani, and expressed regret over the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and the mistreatment of them there and called for a change in the situation.

hz/ma