Pakistan Continues Mass Deportation of Afghan Refugees Despite Global Outcry

Ongoing Expulsions Defy Global Appeals

As reported by People’s Dispatch, Pakistan has continued to expel Afghan refugees en masse, with between 500,000 and 800,000 people forced to leave since September 2023. Despite urgent appeals from the United Nations and human rights organizations, the government has pressed ahead with its campaign to remove what it terms “illegal foreigners.”

Afghan Refugee Camp, Image for Illustration Purposes Only

On March 7, Pakistani authorities announced a deadline, ordering Afghan refugees to voluntarily leave the country by March 31. Although the government extended the deadline slightly due to Eid holidays, it launched a new wave of deportations in early April. April 5 marked the highest number of deportations recorded so far in this phase, according to local media reports.

Court Rulings Offer Temporary Relief for Some

In response to growing concerns, courts in Pakistan have issued temporary legal protections for some refugees. On April 8, a Peshawar court ordered authorities to stop deporting refugees who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards until June 30. The court also directed that detainees with valid documents be released and allowed to return if already deported.

The court further mandated that lawyers and human rights advocates be granted access to detention centers to assess the living conditions of Afghan detainees. A similar ruling had earlier been issued by the Islamabad High Court in March.

Women and Children at Heightened Risk

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has strongly criticized the forced displacements. UNHCR’s representative in Pakistan, Philippa Candler, warned that these expulsions risk further destabilizing families who have lived in Pakistan for decades, many of whom include women and children with no ties to Afghanistan.

“These directives represent a major disruption to communities that have long hosted Afghan refugees,” Candler stated on March 30, emphasizing that such mass removals are neither humane nor sustainable.

A Legacy of Displacement

Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan since the Soviet invasion in 1979. Today, multiple generations have lived, studied, and worked in the country. Prior to the expulsion campaign, UNHCR estimated the Afghan population in Pakistan at over three million, including around 2.18 million registered refugees.

Of these, nearly half possess PoR cards, while over 800,000 have Afghan Citizenship Cards issued by UNHCR. Many others remain undocumented. Despite this long history, Pakistan’s current administration continues to portray the Afghan refugee population as a national security and economic threat. This rhetoric has intensified efforts to remove them, regardless of their legal status or personal circumstances.

International Pressure Mounts

UN human rights experts recently issued a joint statement calling on Pakistan to stop the arrests, evictions, and deportations of Afghan refugees. They highlighted Pakistan’s obligation to uphold the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of individuals to a country where they may face harm.

Yet, Pakistan remains outside the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, relying instead on constitutional provisions to claim it respects refugee rights.

As deportations continue, observers fear worsening humanitarian conditions for those forced back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where safety and basic rights remain far from guaranteed.

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