Islamabad: It is expected that the returns of Pakistan’s Afghans will increase in the coming months after the signing of a legal regulatory order on the repatriation of the Afghan by the Ministry of Interior that confirmed that the validity of the test of the registration cards expired on June 30 of this year, and render the continuous stay of the holders of such ash up -to -wearing cards.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says in its report: “General description of Afghanistan returnees” that around 1.4 million headline holders currently remain in Pakistan.
As of July 26, it is estimated that 1,668,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan in 2025, including 1,280,000 of Iran and 389,000 of Pakistan. Only between July 1 and 26, approximately 539,000 people returned from Iran, which represents almost a third of the total number of people who have returned from Iran so far this year.
During the report period (July 20-26), Iran’s daily arrivals averaged around 11,000. In contrast, Pakistan’s returnees during the same period averaged 1,100 per day.
Card holders cannot stay longer when the document expired on June 30
From January to February 2025, the Government issued a directive, which requires that Afghan citizens in Pakistan move from the territory of the capital of Islamabad (ICT) and Rawalpindi, or otherwise face deportation. Other ads followed the implementation of the second phase of the “IFRP”, aimed at ACC holders in addition to undocumented Afghans to return to Afghanistan.
These decisions have resulted in an increase in arrests, arrests and deportations of Afghan nationals, particularly in April 2025. At present, the validity of the card has not yet extended, after its expiration on June 30, 2025.
Posted in Dawn, August 5, 2025
