: Wednesday, 23 April 2025 6:23 pm
Islamabad. Pakistan’s Home Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that more than 1,00,000 Afghan citizens living in the country had gone to their homeland. The return deadline of illegal Afghan citizens and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders is coming near April 30.
This is the second campaign of expulsion of Afghan citizens. The first phase began in 2023. Under the first phase, all illegal and non-promoted Afghans were voluntarily left the country or excluded Afghanistan.
In the second phase, Pakistan also announced the inclusion of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders. The March 31 deadline was set for voluntary repatriation.
At the same time, the deadline of April 30 was set to get out of the country through the Tarkham border without a document and ACC holder Afghans.
The internal ministry confirmed, “1,00,529 Afghans have left the country during the first three weeks of April.”
Since the end of the voluntary withdrawal deadline in March, the convoys of the Afghans have been seen moving towards the border every day. Many Afghan families forced to leave the country have accused Pakistani police officers of misbehavior and insult.
Pakistan -born 27 -year -old Afghan citizen Allah Rehman said, “I was born in Pakistan and never went to Afghanistan. I was afraid that the police could humiliate me and my family. Now we are completely helpless to Afghanistan.”
The United Nations Refugee High Commissioner (UNHCR) revealed that while many Afghans are voluntarily leaving Pakistan, arrests and custody are also increasing with every passing day. According to the UNHCR, during the year 2024, Pakistan has at least 12,948 arrests and custody.
On the other hand, Afghanistan also condemned the alleged misconduct with its citizens in Pakistan, and called the Government of Pakistan to ensure and facilitate the ‘respectable return’ of Afghan refugees.
The case was also raised in a recent meeting between Afghanistan’s Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during a one -day visit to Kabul.
Exiled Afghan citizens are more than half of women and children, so UNHCR has expressed serious concern about their future. Afghanistan is a country where further education from secondary school is forbidden for many people.
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