KP CM Gandapur assures no forced expulsions of Afghan refugees

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced on Friday that the government would not forcibly deport any Afghan refugee from the northwestern region of Pakistan.

While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the KP CM stated, “We will not expel any Afghan refugee by force from KP. We oppose any form of forcible deportation of Afghan refugees.”

He made these remarks as the federal government began repatriating undocumented refugees and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders following the March 31, 2025, deadline for their volunt return.

Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans for nearly five decades. While hundreds of thousands have returned to their country in recent years, more than 2.1 million still reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces.

Pakistani authorities set March 31 as the deadline for all illegal Afghan residents and ACC cardholders to return to their country amid rising terrorism incidents.

During his interaction with journalists today, CM Gandapur emphasized, “We uphold cultural and historical traditions regarding Afghan refugees.” He added that the government would provide resources to help those refugees who wish to return voluntarily do so with dignity. Responding to a question, the chief minister stressed that negotiations are the only viable path forward with Afghanistan.

Raising questions about the Centre’s intentions, KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur said the provincial government is still waiting for the federal government to approve the terms of reference (TOR) needed to begin talks with the interim Afghan Taliban-led government.

The KP government had planned to send a provincial jirga to Kabul to address bilateral issues, including cross-border attacks and the use of Afghan soil by terrorists. CM Gandapur emphasized that regional stability depends on peace in Afghanistan. He asserted that PTI holds the solution to the terrorism challenges facing the country.

Responding to the incumbent government’s allegations about the resettlement of terrorists and the resurgence of militancy in the country, CM Gandapur called the statements from the treasury benches “extremely irresponsible.”

Afghan Refugee population in Pakistan remains above 2 million:

According to data obtained by the source, Pakistan currently hosts 2.1 million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees.

Sources in the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) state that 1.4 million Afghan refugees are legally registered, while 800,000 Afghan nationals hold an ‘Afghan Citizen Card’ (ACC), but their stay is now deemed illegal. However, the government claims that the total number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is three million, and it plans to repatriate all of them this year under the illegal foreign nationals’ deportation plan.

Afghans residing in Pakistan are classified into four groups:

The first category includes Afghan citizens who fled to Pakistan due to instability in Afghanistan and received official refugee status. In 2007, Pakistan issued Proof of Registration (PoR) Cards to approximately 1.3 million refugees in this group. The government issued these cards once and renewed them periodically, with the current validity set to expire on June 30, 2025.

The second category includes Afghan nationals who received Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). The government issued these cards to approximately 800,000 individuals in 2016, and they are now being repatriated as part of the government’s deportation efforts.

The third category comprises Afghan nationals who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. Pakistan granted asylum to these individuals under international protocols. While the Pakistani government initially claimed that 600,000 Afghans arrived following the US withdrawal, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states that only 200,000 were officially registered.

The fourth category includes undocumented Afghan nationals who lack both PoR and ACC status and are not registered as asylum seekers from the 2021 influx. It also includes individuals who have married in Pakistan and obtained fake national identity cards. Over the past two years, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has canceled such fraudulent IDs through its National Verification and Renewal Drive, classifying these individuals as illegal residents.