Pakistan has announced plans to expel all Afghan refugees from its territory, regardless of whether they hold legal residence permits. The decision, communicated to the Afghan embassy, means that only Afghans with valid visas will be allowed to stay.
The move comes as part of Pakistan’s wider effort to remove undocumented Afghan refugees, whom the government has linked to rising terrorist activity. Holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) and Proof of Registration (PoR) cards will no longer be recognized after June 30, according to Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb.
“After that, they will have no legal status—those who leave voluntarily can do so, but others will be forcibly deported,” Shakeeb stated.
The Pakistani government claims that Afghan nationals and members of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group have been involved in recent terrorist attacks, though Afghanistan’s government has denied any involvement.
Since September 2023, the UN’s International Migration Organization estimates that nearly 825,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated, including 18,500 deported in January 2025 alone. The situation has drawn condemnation from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, particularly after Pakistani authorities conducted raids on Afghan refugees’ homes.
Last month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved March 31 as the deadline to deport refugees waiting to be relocated to other countries unless their cases are processed quickly. The decision has raised concerns among humanitarian organizations, as thousands of Afghan refugees now face forced displacement.
