Pakistan extends deportation deadline for Afghan refugees but UN remains concerned

Pakistan extended the deadline for the deportation of millions of Afghan refugees to 1 September, officials said on Wednesday as the United Nations welcomed the decision but still expressed concern over coerced returns.

Afghans have fled to Pakistan over the past four decades to escape war, political instability and economic hardship in their homeland.

An estimated 1.4 million are now registered with the UN refugee agency and have Proof of Residence cards (PoR) issued by Pakistani authorities, which have refused to reissue them after 30 June, the original deadline for voluntary repatriation, drawing criticism from rights groups.

The refugees will be allowed a "grace period" of 25 days, from 4 to 31 August, to voluntarily return to their home country, said Lateef-ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the Home and Tribal Affairs Department.

He added that Islamabad approved the new deadline this week, after which those remaining could face arrest and forced expulsion.

Islamabad is also targeting an additional 800,000 with Afghan Citizen Cards, who it says reside in the country illegally.

While the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) welcomed the extension decision, it warned that forced deportation could violate the international principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of individuals to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.

Qaiser Khan Afridi, the UNHCR's spokesperson in Pakistan, said the agency continued to seek an "extension of the validity of PoR cards."

At least 1.2 million Afghan nationals have been forced to return to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by UNHCR.

Repatriations on such a massive scale have the potential to destabilise the fragile situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban government came into power in 2021, the agency said.

A 31 July government notification confirmed Pakistan's decision to repatriate all Afghan nationals holding expired PoR cards.

It states Afghans without valid passports and Pakistani visas are in the country illegally and must return to their homeland under local immigration laws.

Though hundreds of thousands of Afghans live in refugee camps, many others have fully integrated into the community, with families and businesses of their own, and remain in hiding to avoid arrest.

Rights groups have voiced concern that their arrest and deportation would wreak havoc on their lives.

Rehman, the ministry spokesperson, said local authorities have been instructed to engage with Afghan community leaders to encourage voluntary repatriation and that there are plans to close down refugee camps, but no dates have been decided.

The renewed deportation drive follows a nationwide crackdown launched in 2023 targeting foreigners living illegally in Pakistan.