Pakistan extends deadline for expulsion of Afghans

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday postponed a deadline for hundreds of thousands of Afghans to return to their country due to Eid al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan, a government official told AFP.

In early March, Islamabad announced a deadline of the end of the month for Afghans holding specific documentation to leave the country, ramping up a campaign to send Afghans back to their homeland.

“The deadline has been extended until the beginning of next week due to Eid holidays,” the official said on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) – issued by Pakistan authorities and held by 800,000 people, according to the United Nations – face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline.

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More than 1.3 million Afghans who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, are also to be moved outside the capital, Islamabad, and neighbouring city Rawalpindi.

The UN says nearly three million Afghans live in Pakistan, many having fled there over decades of war in their country and after the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan.

“Many have been living in the country for years and going back means going back to nothing,” Pakistani human rights lawyer Moniza Kakar told AFP.

Ties between the neighbouring countries have frayed since the Taliban takeover, with Pakistan accusing Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government denies.

A delegation from Islamabad met with officials in Kabul in March, with Pakistan emphasising the importance of security in Afghanistan for the region.

The Taliban government has repeatedly called for the “dignified” return of Afghans to their country, with Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urging countries hosting Afghans not to force them out.

“We ask that instead of forced deportation, Afghans should be supported and provided with facilities,” he said in an Eid message the day before Pakistan’s original deadline.

Rights groups have condemned Pakistan’s campaign.

Human Rights Watch slammed “abusive tactics” used to pressure Afghans to return to their country, where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions.

Afghan girls and young women would lose rights to education if returned to Afghanistan, as per Taliban authority bans.

Amnesty International condemned the removal of Afghans in Islamabad awaiting resettlement in other countries, saying they would be “far from foreign missions who had promised visas and travel documents, and risk deportation due to the increased difficulty in coordinating their relocation with missions such as the United States”.

Following an ultimatum from Islamabad in late 2023 for undocumented Afghans to leave Pakistan, more than 800,000 Afghans returned between September 2023 and the end of 2024, according UN figures.