K-P to abide by decision on Afghans' repatriation

Opposes forced evacuation of refugees from province

PESHAWAR:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has decided to abide by the federal government decision on the repatriation of Afghan refugees.

However, it has been made clear that refugees would not be forcibly expatriated from K-P but would be given the opportunity to return to their homeland voluntarily.

For this, they will also be provided with the necessary facilities.

The central government has given a deadline of March 31, 2025 to all Afghan refugees who are illegal or have proof-of-registration cards to leave Pakistan and return to Afghanistan.

In this regard, K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had opposed the federal government's policy during a press conference in Peshawar recently.

However, The Express Tribune learned from very reliable sources in the provincial government that the Gandapur government would not interfere in any way with the policy being implemented by the Centre regarding the return of Afghan refugees and the said policy would be followed.

Sources said that the provincial government would not forcibly expel Afghan refugees residing in different areas of the province, including Peshawar, and send them to Afghanistan but would provide them an opportunity to leave Pakistan on their own and return to their homeland with dignity.

In this regard, sources said that an office would be established for these refugees at the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham so that they could travel to Afghanistan from there according to their travel documents and would also be provided the necessary travel facilities at that location.

The sources said that the governments in Punjab and Islamabad were responsible for providing transport and other facilities to the Afghan refugees migrating from those areas.

It has been reported that an important meeting is also going to be held in Peshawar next week in which matters related to the return of Afghan refugees to the war-torn country would be discussed.

Background

Pakistan on March 17 had turned down a request by the Afghan Taliban to grant an extension in the stay of Afghan refugees.

Kabul has been conveyed in clear terms that Islamabad would stick to its plan for deporting all illegal and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders from April 1.

In a major policy decision, Pakistan on March 7 had announced that ACC holders had until March 31 to leave the country or face deportation. There are around 800,000 ACC holders in Pakistan but, after March 31, they would be treated as illegal aliens.

Reports had been doing rounds that Pakistan was planning to evict all Afghans from the country but that was the first time that the Ministry of Interior had officially confirmed the development.

"Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Program (IFRP) has been implemented since 1 November 2023. In a continuation of the government's decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, the national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders," read the official handout of the ministry issued on March 7.