Overview
- The Interior Ministry instructed provincial and regional authorities on August 4 to begin formal repatriation of over 1.3 million Afghans whose Proof of Registration cards expired June 30.
- Refugees have a voluntary return grace period from August 4 to August 31, after which remaining PoR cardholders may face arrest and forced expulsion under the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.
- UNHCR spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi reported hundreds of detentions and deportations of legally registered Afghans between August 1 and 4, warning that such actions violate the principle of non-refoulement.
- The plan also continues repatriation of Afghan Citizen Card holders, with NADRA and the FIA tasked to process deregistration and border-crossing logistics for returnees.
- Afghanistan’s government has condemned the operation as forced deportation and called on Pakistan to uphold protections for long-term refugees.