Pakistan to send registered Afghan refugees back to their country

Islamabad: The Pakistan government has devised a plan to move registered Afghan refugees out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and gradually repatriate them back to their country.

Authorities have also been directed to implement the plan without making any public announcement, Dawn newspaper reported quoting sources.

It reported that the plan was finalised in a series of meetings presided by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week.

One of the meetings was also attended by Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir, a source in the prime minister's office confirmed.

Under phase I of the relocation plan, Afghan nationals having the Afghan Citizens Card (ACC) will be “immediately” moved out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

They will then be sent back to Afghanistan alongside illegal and undocumented refugees.

ACC is an identification document issued to registered Afghan nationals by Nadra.

According to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM), ACC gives temporary legal status to Afghans during their stay in Pakistan.

However, the federal government makes the decision on the duration for which the ACC would remain valid.

Afghan nationals who have a Proof of Registration Card (PoR), which allows them to stay anywhere in Pakistan legally, will be repatriated in the second phase of the plan.

They would be “moved out” of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, but wouldn’t be deported immediately, sources said, adding that the cabinet had allowed POR-holding Afghans to remain in the country till June.

The total number of Afghans living in Pakistan with PoR and ACC is estimated to be 1.3 million and 700,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, Afghans awaiting resettlement in third countries will be moved out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31.

According to sources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with embassies and other global organisations to expedite the resettlement process.

Any Afghans who couldn’t be resettled in a third country will also be sent back to Afghanistan.

According to Shawn VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, a leading coalition of resettlement and veterans groups,10,000 to 15,000 are in Pakistan waiting for visas or resettlement in the US.

It is unclear what number of these Afghans live in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. However, the decision to move them out of the twin cities is expected to create a host of logistical challenges for the refugees, many of whom have to visit foreign missions and offices of global humanitarian organisations in Islamabad.

Many of the Afghan nationals awaiting resettlement to a third country are also enrolled in language centres in the federal capital.

The Ministry of Interior will lead the relocation and deportation plans, and intelligence agencies, IB and ISI, will monitor their implementation.

Pakistan started a nationwide crackdown in 2023 to deport millions of Afghans, which the government said were living illegally in the country. According to IOM, 805,991 Afghans have returned to their country since September 15, 2023.

Human rights activists and civil society members have criticised the forced repatriation and filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

The petition was last heard by a seven-judge bench headed by Justice Amin-ud-din Khan on January 7. During the hearing, the federal government assured the court that all registered Afghan refugees, including those having PoRs or ACC, would be provided full legal protection and not be apprehended or deported.

However, in a report last month, IOM said hundreds of Afghan nationals were arrested and detained in Islamabad in the last two weeks of December, according to Dawn.