Afghan Refugees op/ed by Ambassador Tariq Osman Hyder

Just to leave an update on the repatriation process.

1.5 million afghans have been repatriated from Pakistan since October 2023.
6.6 lakh since April. 2.1 lakh in September alone.
Before October 2023, it was estimated that anywhere between 3.7 and 4.4 million Afghans were in Pakistan, registered and illegal. That makes the current figures between 2.2 and 2.9 million. (Not counting those who have crossed over since 2023.)

But bear in mind that the repatriation process was stopped throughout 2024 and only activated again in April 2025. Meaning the process has only been active for 9 months, 3 months of 2023 and 6 months of 2025.

Meaning we have reduced the number of afghans by 34-40.5% in 9 mere months (again, not counting new illegals) and it would have been far greater had we not appeased the Taliban in 2024.! So don't let people tell you it's not possible.

In comparison, 2.1 million Afghans have been repatriated from Iran since 1 January 2025 and they are planning launch of phase 2
 
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hydrabadi_arab said:
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Not just mianwali. Multiple camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, punjab and Balochistan have been marked and provincial government ordered to recover stolen public lands from these camps. As far as I gather they are empty.

3 in KP. 1 in Punjab. 5 in Balochistan.
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Pakistan has decided to shut down 16 Afghan refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, and Punjab as the repatriation of refugees continues.

The federal government last month informed the provinces that the formal repatriation and deportation of over 1.3 million Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards will begin on September 1.

The decision followed the interior ministry’s announcement on July 31 that PoR cardholders — the last category of Afghans legally residing in Pakistan without visas — became unlawful residents after their cards expired on June 30.

According to notifications dated September 25, 2025 and issued by theMinistry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) — copies of which are available with Dawn.com — denotified camps are located in Haripur, Chitral and Upper Dir in KP, Chaghai, Loralai, Killa Saifullah, Pishin and Quetta in Balochistan, and Mianwali in Punjab.

When asked about the opinion on denotifying camps where thousands of refugees are staying, the Afghan Chief Commission did not respond to a request for comment.

Haji Abdul Samad, who is representative of a main camp in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn.com this week that local officials have told him to vacate the camp in accordance with the government’s policy.

He, however, said there has been no raid, arrest or pressure on refugees to leave the Panian camp, which houses about 13,000 families and over 90,000 refugees, according to Abdul Samad.

Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Khan Gandapur stated on a number of occasions that his government will not force refugees to return.

The Safron ministry notifications say all lands within the denotified areas will be handed over to the provincial governments and deputy commissioners of the concerned districts.

They also read that all non-movable assets within the notified area will also be handed over to the provinces and deputy commissioners.

Most of the camps had been set up in early 1980s when refugees started coming to Pakistan after the invasion of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency, has shown concern at Pakistan’s decision to denotify some of the refugee villages.

It reiterated that returns to Afghanistan should be voluntary, phased, safe and dignified.

“Many of the people affected are Afghan refugees who have lived for years in these villages and have expressed great despair about how this development is going to impact on their lives,” spokesperson for UNHCR Pakistan, Qaiser Khan Afridi, told Dawn.com on Saturday.

“In particular, UNHCR urges that people with international protection needs and those with humanitarian considerations face particular challenges and should be protected against (forced) returns,” Afridi said.

Pakistan started repatriation of Afghan refugees in 2023 over security concerns and amid tension with the Taliban government.

Pakistan also argues that war has ended in Afghanistan and refugees should go back.

However, the refugees complain about the lack of transport. They say that they face problems finding trucks for shifting their household goods.

Gada Ali Khan Zadran, a representative of the refugees at Mianwali camp, told Dawn.com that refugees are facing difficulties in finding transport to take household items to Afghanistan.

Zadran also said that the fare of transport has also been increased from Rs300,000 to 600,000.

According to UNHCR, there were over 1.3 million Afghans in Pakistan as of June 30, 2025. More than half of them (717,945) lived in KP, 326,584 in Balochistan, 195,188 in Punjab, 75,510 in Sindh and 43,154 in Islamabad.
 
good, deport them all. No care.

let their own people who live in west can support them on their own soil. Let them do that now. plenty of afghanis in mideast and western countries......they can support their country with remittances.

Its time for all of them to leave Pakistan and never return. We simply cannot afford to have them as theyre a national security threat
 
Do it like Iran or shout the F up. Because Pakistan fears economical turmoil after expelling so many people but Iran didn´t care really
 
PK781 said:
good, deport them all. No care.

let their own people who live in west can support them on their own soil. Let them do that now. plenty of afghanis in mideast and western countries......they can support their country with remittances.

Its time for all of them to leave Pakistan and never return. We simply cannot afford to have them as theyre a national security threat
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Why I don't understand is that the afghans always boast about how great they are and how much they hate Pakistan yet cry foul and complain when we try to send them home. They NEED to go back to afghanistan as they are a MASSIVE national security threat to Pakistan and are responsible for the murder of 10s of 1000s of Pakistanis. GO BACK and NEVER return.
 
maxpane said:
Do like Iran or face the consequences like Iran. Its simple
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Iran sacrificed nearly 100 billion USD from their GDP just to kick them out. Pakistan should follow suit and donate 50 billion to Afghanistan´s GDP
 
battalion25 said:
Iran sacrificed nearly 100 billion USD from their GDP just to kick them out. Pakistan should follow suit and donate 50 billion to Afghanistan´s GDP
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No money can be equal to soverieignty of Pakistan. Freedom is above everything . We are not doing any thing wrong. we are sending our guests back to their home, after all ,their home is safe and more prosperous .
 
Asfandyar Bhittani said:
Just to leave an update on the repatriation process.

1.5 million afghans have been repatriated from Pakistan since October 2023.
6.6 lakh since April. 2.1 lakh in September alone.
Before October 2023, it was estimated that anywhere between 3.7 and 4.4 million Afghans were in Pakistan, registered and illegal. That makes the current figures between 2.2 and 2.9 million. (Not counting those who have crossed over since 2023.)

But bear in mind that the repatriation process was stopped throughout 2024 and only activated again in April 2025. Meaning the process has only been active for 9 months, 3 months of 2023 and 6 months of 2025.

Meaning we have reduced the number of afghans by 34-40.5% in 9 mere months (again, not counting new illegals) and it would have been far greater had we not appeased the Taliban in 2024.! So don't let people tell you it's not possible.

In comparison, 2.1 million Afghans have been repatriated from Iran since 1 January 2025 and they are planning launch of phase 2
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Can they get rid of the legal ones too? What about the ones who illegally purchased passports?

When are they going to go door to door in Karachi, Balochistan and FATA?
 
Distant_Observer said:
Can they get rid of the legal ones too? What about the ones who illegally purchased passports?

When are they going to go door to door in Karachi, Balochistan and FATA?
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Karachi operation was underway last month it even featured on Dawn News.
 
Afghan and Pakistan people relations essential before railway

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