Pakistan has intensified a crackdown on illegal migrants, deporting around 1,100 Afghans via the Torkham crossing over the past 24 hours, officials say. Eighty-five percent of the deportees were Afghan nationals arrested in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, as well as other cities of Punjab province. Khyber Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shahid Rao said the Punjab government had More
So far only a few Afghan families have returned to the country from Pakistan, the Refugee and Repatriation Department in eastern Nangarhar province has assured full preparations to handle possible influx of refugees. Refugee and Repatriation Director Baz Mohammad Abdul Rahman held an emergency meeting to coordinate the repatriation process today (Saturday). He told Pajhwok More
The Joint Action Committee for Refugees (JAC-R) has strongly condemned the ongoing arbitrary arrests of Pashtuns and individuals of Afghan origin in multiple cities across Pakistan. In a statement released on Friday, JAC-R alleged that law enforcement agencies have conducted unlawful operations in Karachi, Gujrat, Layyah, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Loralai, and other areas—detaining individuals without More
Pakistan embarked on the second phase of repatriating Afghan refugees on Thursday. The new expulsion drive comes after the expiry of the March 31 deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders to leave the country voluntarily. But a senior official of the Afghan Commissionerate in Peshawar told Dawn the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had extended the More
Pakistan has postponed the arrests and deportations of Afghan refugees, originally set to begin on April 1, pushing the deadline to April 10 due to the Eid al-Fitr holidays, according to a media report. The crackdown was delayed based on government documents obtained by The Associated Press. Meanwhile, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that the police chief of More
Pakistan has put in place arrangements for repatriating Afghan nationals to their homeland, ignoring calls from human rights groups to postpone deportations. At a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Friday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was informed Afghan citizens would be detained and deported after the March 31 deadline. The government has already ordered illegal immigrants, More
Pakistan has recently expelled 213 Afghan nationals as part of its ongoing campaign against illegal immigrants, says a media report. A total of 923 Afghan nationals were arrested in Rawalpindi on Thursday, with 213 of them repatriated to Afghanistan, Dawn reported, citing an unnamed source. The report added that since the launch of the crackdown More
Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the widespread harassment, detention, and forced expulsion of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. In a post on X, AI wrote since 2023, over 840,000 Afghan refugees have been forced to leave the country. As part of an escalating deportation campaign, Pakistani authorities are intensifying efforts to expel Afghan nationals from Islamabad More
About 174 Afghan nationals have arrived in Germany on a chartered flight from Pakistan, says a media report. The flight, carrying 82 women and 92 men, landed at Hannover Airport on Thursday afternoon, as confirmed by the German Interior Ministry. Deutsche Welle (DW) reported that all those arriving in Hannover had already been granted admission More
Pakistan has ruled out any extension the March 31 deadline for the expulsion of Afghan nationals residing illegally in the country. The decision came at a meeting held at the interior ministry in Islamabad on Thursday, The News International reported, citing unnamed sources. The newspaper said the federal government had decided to strictly enforce the More