PESHAWAR: More than 200 Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards have returned to Afghanistan via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said on Tuesday, after Pakistan’s federal government renewed its call for Afghans to leave the country and set a September 1 deadline for deporting PoR cardholders.
The ongoing expulsion drive began in 2023, the same year Pakistan witnessed a surge in militant violence, including suicide attacks that officials linked, without offering direct evidence, to Afghan nationals.
Authorities initially targeted undocumented migrants, most of them Afghans, followed by those holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). In June this year, Pakistan declined to renew PoR cards, rendering 1.4 million previously documented refugees illegal under national law.
PoR cards were issued by Pakistan to Afghans who were registered in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and recognized the holder as a legal refugee in Pakistan. ACC cards, on the other hand, were issued to unregistered Afghans living in Pakistan, acknowledging them as Afghan nationals but without granting refugee status.
“213 PoR card holders have returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham border, along with 273 ACC holders and 1,070 undocumented Afghan nationals,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Home and Tribal Affairs Department said in a statement.
