Pakistan orders documented Afghan migrants to leave

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan ordered all documented Afghan migrants on Friday to leave the country by March 31 or risk deportation.

The directive was issued a day after the Afghan Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation Affairs urged Pakistan to slow down the expulsion of Afghans.

Pakistan launched the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Program in October 2023, after a dramatic rise in violence that Islamabad blamed on militants operating from Afghanistan.

Friday's order called on those with Afghan Citizen Cards (ACCs) to leave the country in the next three weeks, saying deportation of documented migrants would begin April 1.

“In continuation of the government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders,” the ministry said in a brief press release. “All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before 31 March 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence with effect from 1 April 2025.”

This affects nearly 900,000 documented Afghan economic migrants residing in Pakistan.

According to data from the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) released Friday, more than 842,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the expulsion drive began, including more than 40,000 deportees.

“It is highlighted that sufficient time has already been granted for their dignified return,” the Pakistani interior ministry said.

In late January, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government approved a plan to repatriate ACC holders but did not specify a date.

Security concerns

Pakistan ranks second among countries most affected by terrorism, according to the Global Terrorism Index released this week.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, emerged as the fastest-growing terrorist group in 2024, almost doubling the number of deaths attributed to it in 2023.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to TTP militants, and Islamabad alleges Afghan nationals are involved in terror attacks claimed by the TTP and its offshoots.

Friday’s directive to expel documented Afghan migrants followed Tuesday’s twin suicide bombing of a military compound in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that killed 18, including five soldiers. The Pakistani military said that Afghan nationals were among the 16 militants killed in the attack and that it was orchestrated from Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban denied Islamabad’s accusations.

Arrests and detention

Since the start of 2025, the UNHCR has recorded an uptick in the arrest and detention of Afghans, especially undocumented and ACC holders in the capital region, where it recorded 45 times more arrests than in January and February of 2024.

The trend follows a November 2024 order by Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, calling on Afghans to leave the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and its neighboring garrison city of Rawalpindi by the end of that year.

In the first two months of this year, more than 2,600 Afghans were arrested across Pakistan. Nearly 2,300 were undocumented or ACC holders, according to the UNHCR. Close to 1,200 were arrested in Islamabad and nearby areas.

In January, Pakistan deported 1,000 Afghans. Of those, more than 800, who included women and children, were rounded up from the capital and Rawalpindi.

The Pakistani advocacy group Joint Action Committee for Refugees raised alarm Friday, claiming that authorities had rounded up more than 200 Afghans in the capital and nearby cities. The rights organization called the action a violation of a recent court order that restrained authorities from harassing refugees, and it urged authorities to act according to the law.

“It is emphasized that no one will be maltreated during the repatriation process,” the interior ministry said. “Arrangements for food and health care for returning foreigners have also been put in place.”

The order for documented Afghans to leave takes place as Torkham, the busiest border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, remains closed after intense shelling from both sides in recent days.