According to local media reports, especially in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, ordered all Afghan refugees to be taken out immediately. According to a report by Pakistan’s leading daily ‘Dawn’, the police chief of Rawalpindi directed the superintendents of Rawal, Potohar and Sadar Division to take legal action against Afghan citizens living or working in the district.
A police officer told Don, “We have received instructions that all Afghan citizens with ACC cards should be expelled from Rawalpindi and Islamabad.” Apart from this, the instructions said that the registration proof (POR) cards and the Afghans living in both cities will have to leave Pakistan as per the government policy.
The time limit for POR card holders leaving the country is 30 June 2025. Philipa Candler, representative of the United Nations Refugee High Commissioner (UNHCR) in Pakistan, said on Sunday that the country’s decision to evacuate hundreds of Afghan refugees’ shook the Afghan community as their expectations and dreams have been shattered. He urged the international community to take more responsibility.
Candler said, “Last week I met an Afghan family, who left everything in a hurry in search of peace and security, ran away from Afghanistan and came here to take refuge in 2022. It was heartbreaking to see how frightened they were for being forced to go back.”
The UNHCR representative said, “The latest instructions of the Pakistani government create significant disruption in the fabric of many communities. Dislocation and potential return to Afghanistan from the communities that welcomed them, while they have very little opportunities.”
Recently, several refugees living in Pakistan for four decades appealed to the government to increase their stay once again. According to the Afghan media outlet Tolo News report, Afghan refugee Jabit Khan, who has been living in Islamabad for almost forty years, says he established a business over the years, and now the expulsion from Pakistan can seriously affect his life.
Khan said, “Give us time, because we cannot suddenly move our business. We have worked here for forty years or more and have made connections with people. This will cause us to be troublesome.” Earlier, the US -based advocacy group Human Rights Watch had criticized Pakistan for forcibly deporting Afghan refugees. Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, Ellen Piercene said, “Pakistani authorities should immediately stop forcing the Afghans to return home and give people an opportunity to seek security.”
