Pakistan says repatriation of Afghan nationals with PoR cards to start next month

Islamabad, Aug 6 (IANS) Pakistan's Ministry of Interior has announced that the repatriation of Afghan nationals holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards who do not opt to return voluntarily will start on September 1.

As per the notification issued by Pakistan's Ministry of Interior, the voluntary repatriation process of PoR cardholders will start immediately while the compulsory repatriation of remaining Afghan people will begin on September 1, The Express Tribune reported.

The decision was taken during a high-level meeting considering rising security concerns and pressure on national resources. In the notification, Pakistan's Ministry of Interior said that the ongoing repatriation process for Afghan Citizen Card holders will start as per the earlier decision taken by the Interim Framework for the Return Process (IFRP).

Pakistan's Ministry of Interior will collaborate with relevant international agencies, including the Taliban-led interim government, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and others to facilitate the repatriation of Afghan refugees.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will make sure that the de-registration of returning Afghans is conducted at transit areas and border terminals. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been instructed to support the return process of Afghan refugees at designated border crossing points. All provincial governments and relevant agencies have been directed to map all PoR cardholders who reside within their jurisdictions.

Earlier in July, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that nearly 1.2 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since September 2023. In the report, the UNHCR noted that many of the Afghans who have returned, face dire conditions and called for urgent aid to prevent a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Over 156,000 returnees, including 98,000 registered cardholders, have received humanitarian assistance since returning to Afghanistan. UNHCR noted that women and girl make up about half of those receiving aid while roughly 2.2 per cent of all returnees are people who are specially-abled, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported, citing the report which was released on July 31.

The agency stated that more than 315,000 Afghans came back to Afghanistan in 2025 alone, including 51,000 who were forcibly deported by Pakistani authorities. Increasing political and security pressures in Pakistan pose a threat to the status of over two million Afghan refugees who have lived there for decades.

According to the report, many Afghan returnees face bleak conditions, lacking proper housing, jobs and access to essential services in Afghanistan. Aid agencies have called on Afghan authorities and the international community to increase support, warning that the wave of returnees could deepen humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan if assistance is not provided.

--IANS

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