ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan has announced plans to repatriate more than 1.3 million Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards starting from September 1, according to a media report on Wednesday.
The move follows a broader crackdown that began in 2023, when authorities launched efforts to expel all undocumented foreigners. So far, around 800,000 Afghan nationals have reportedly been repatriated under the initiative.
According to Dawn newspaper, the federal government has formally notified all provinces that the deportation and repatriation process for PoR cardholders will begin on September 1. The decision comes in the wake of a July 31 announcement by the Interior Ministry, which declared that PoR cardholders—previously allowed to stay in Pakistan legally—have become unlawful residents following the expiry of their cards on June 30.
A letter dated August 4 from the Interior Ministry was sent to the chief secretaries and police chiefs of all four provinces, as well as authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, instructing them to implement the next phase of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP).
“It has been decided that voluntary return of PoR cardholders shall begin immediately, with formal repatriation and deportation starting from September 1, 2025,” the letter stated.
The Ministry also confirmed that the repatriation of other undocumented foreign nationals—including holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC)—will continue in line with previous IFRP directives.
The letter directed PoK authorities to share databases of PoR cardholders with provincial, divisional, and district-level committees. It also outlined the roles of key agencies: the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will handle the deregistration process at transit and border points, while the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will oversee repatriation at designated crossings.
Provinces have been instructed to identify all PoR cardholders within their jurisdictions and develop repatriation plans, including transportation, temporary transit centers, and financial logistics for deportees.
Official sources told Dawn that Islamabad had already informed Kabul in March that the PoR cards would not be extended beyond June 30, 2025.
As of June 30, 2025, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated over 1.3 million Afghans were living in Pakistan. Of these, 717,945 were based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 326,584 in Balochistan, 195,188 in Punjab, 75,510 in Sindh, and 43,154 in Islamabad.
PoR cards were originally issued in 2004–05 with support from the UNHCR. In 2016, Pakistan introduced Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) through an amendment to the Foreigners Act, 1946.
In response to the government’s latest move, the UNHCR expressed concern over the potential for forced returns. “In recent days, UNHCR has received reports of arrests and detentions of Afghans across the country, including those holding PoR cards,” the agency said in a statement.
While acknowledging Pakistan’s decades-long hospitality toward Afghan refugees, the UNHCR emphasized that forcibly returning individuals legally recognized as refugees would violate the principle of non-refoulement and depart from Pakistan’s traditional humanitarian stance.
