Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has ordered authorities across the country to immediately arrest Afghan nationals without valid visas and accelerate their deportation, according to a directive reported by Pakistani media.
The order has been circulated to provincial governments, regional administrations and authorities in the Islamabad Capital Territory, instructing them to enforce the policy uniformly across Pakistan.
According to the directive, local authorities have been told to submit daily reports to the Interior Ministry detailing the number of Afghan nationals found without valid visas and the measures taken against them.
The directive has asked for the start of arrests from July 10.
The order also calls for speeding up the deportation of undocumented Afghans, including those whose visas have expired.
The latest directive comes as Pakistan continues a nationwide campaign to deport undocumented Afghan migrants, a policy that has drawn criticism from the United Nations and human rights organizations over its humanitarian impact.
Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a US-based organization that advocates for Afghans awaiting resettlement abroad, described the directive as “heartbreaking” and urged greater international action.
“We hope the United Nations and other international organizations will step in,” VanDiver said in a video statement.
He also criticized the US government, saying President Trump’s administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been unwilling to engage with Pakistan on the issue.
“This is deeply disappointing. The Afghan people deserve far better,” he said.
Meanwhile, Afghan migrants in Pakistan told Amu that police have intensified arrests in recent days, particularly in Islamabad, prompting some families to leave the capital out of fear of detention.
Pakistan launched its mass deportation campaign in late 2023, saying it was aimed at foreigners living in the country illegally.
According to figures from Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 1.1 million Afghan nationals returned from Pakistan in 2025 alone.
UN data show that nearly 2.4 million Afghan refugees and migrants have returned from Pakistan between September 2023 and May 2026, many arriving in Afghanistan amid a worsening humanitarian and economic crisis.
