KABUL, Afghanistan — The UN refugee agency said nearly 120,000 Afghan migrants, including women and children, have returned from Pakistan in the first three weeks of April, as Islamabad continues its mass deportation campaign targeting undocumented foreigners.
In a statement posted to X, the UNHCR said: “In the first three weeks of April, nearly 120,000 Afghans — including women and children — have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.”
The latest figure reflects a growing wave of returns following Pakistan’s policy shift last year to begin expelling undocumented foreign nationals, the majority of whom are Afghan.
The Pakistani government has now set a June 30 deadline for registered Afghan refugees — including holders of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards — to voluntarily leave the country. Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s minister of state for interior, confirmed this week that formal deportations would begin after the deadline.
The first phase of deportations, targeting Afghans without legal status, began in late 2023. The second phase, which focused on Afghan Citizen Card holders, concluded on March 31.
Pakistan is home to more than 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in the country for decades, along with hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans who fled conflict, poverty, and political upheaval.
The mass returns have raised concern among humanitarian agencies, which warn that Afghanistan — grappling with an economic crisis and limited public services — is ill-equipped to absorb the influx of returnees. Many of those returning face food insecurity, lack of shelter, and restrictions under Taliban rule, particularly for women and girls.
The UNHCR has called on Pakistan to ensure that all returns are carried out voluntarily and in accordance with international legal standards.
