Pakistan is extending the stay for nearly 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees, yet it will continue its mass deportation of “illegal immigrants,” according to authorities.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan with Proof of Registration (POR) cards can remain in the country until June 30, 2025, as announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office on Wednesday.
Previously, the status of 1.45 million refugees with expired PORs at the end of June was uncertain, causing many to fear deportation.
The extension was announced a day after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees visited Afghanistan and urged Pakistan to extend the POR cards.
“Glad that Pakistan’s tradition of hospitality is maintained,” Filippo Grandi wrote on X Thursday.
However, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs contradicted the UN’s claims, stating that Islamabad had not suspended its plan from last October to deport undocumented Afghan refugees.
The “(Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan) remains in place and is being implemented in an orderly and phased manner,” spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch told CNN Thursday.
Pakistan hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations, primarily Afghans. Despite this, Afghan refugees have faced hostile living conditions and threats of deportation over the years.
As of March 2024, more than 3 million Afghan refugees, including over 800,000 undocumented individuals, were residing in Pakistan, according to UNHCR data. Some fled during the Soviet invasion decades ago, while others sought refuge after the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021.
In October, Pakistan gave undocumented Afghans weeks to leave or face deportation, citing their involvement in 14 of 24 major terrorist attacks in Pakistan last year. Between September 15, 2023, and the end of June, around 650,000 Afghans returned home, with 32,000 deported, according to UNHCR.
These returnees face a militant regime in Afghanistan that enforces gender apartheid and widespread poverty.
A UN report published Tuesday highlighted human rights violations by the Taliban’s morality police, disproportionately targeting women and girls, creating a “climate of fear and intimidation” in Afghanistan.
Moniza Kakar, a lawyer aiding Afghan migrants in Pakistan’s legal system, mentioned that the POR card extension doesn’t provide stability for all refugees.
“Afghan communities that I have spoken to are still concerned since there are many instances of households where a man might have a POR card and his wife and kids would have no documentation,” Kakar told CNN.
“There is still a huge worry amongst families of being split because of these issues of documentation.”
Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, a regional researcher for South Asia at Amnesty International, stated that the human rights group had documented extensive delays and barriers refugees face in obtaining POR cards.
The status of 80,000 Afghan Citizen Card holders, another form of registration for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, remains uncertain, Ruwanpathirana added.
“We urge the government of Pakistan to formally suspend its ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,’ stop all deportations, and develop a national legal framework to regulate access to refugee status in line with international refugee law,” she said.