ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has repatriated over 1.5 million Afghan citizens since November 2023, state-run media reported this week, since the country launched a nationwide drive to expel what it said were foreigners.
Pakistan launched a repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in November 2023, with hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals expelled since. The government initially said it was first focusing on expelling foreigners with no legal documentation and other categories, such as Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — would be included later.
Earlier this year, the country’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and ACC holders to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from April 1. Authorities subsequently started deporting thousands of Afghan nationals from all parts of the country.
“Repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland continues in a dignified manner,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Saturday.
“As per the official statistics, about 15 lakh sixty thousand Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland so far.”
