Peshawar, April 10 According to the UNHCR, approximately 175,000 Afghan nationals have returned to their country this year, while over 2.1 million have been repatriated since the end of 2023.
On Friday, Qaiser Khan Afridi, spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that the repatriation of Afghan nationals from Pakistan is continuing through multiple border points, with thousands crossing back into Afghanistan on a daily basis.
Approximately 1.4 million displaced individuals are still residing in Pakistan, with the majority being Afghan nationals.
Officials from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) reported that 500 to 600 individuals are arriving at the Chaman camp in Balochistan province each day, where registration procedures are being completed.
Authorities have established temporary shelters at the Chaman camp to facilitate the return process and ensure basic services for departing families.
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) has warned that Afghanistan remains a hub for extremist and militant groups, citing weak governance and porous borders as key challenges.
According to Afghan media outlet Khaama Press, the CSTO noted that neighboring countries face ongoing risks, including cross-border terrorism, smuggling, and militant movement.
The repatriation campaign for Afghan nationals began in October 2023 for undocumented immigrants, followed by a second phase in 2025 focusing on the 1.3 million Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders after the government cited security concerns and economic strain.
In October 2023, the government of Pakistan announced a plan to deport foreign nationals who either did not have valid visas or had overstayed their visas for more than one year.
The mass deportations primarily affected those Afghans who had no legal documents to be in Pakistan. According to the United Nations, there were an estimated 3.8 million Afghans in Pakistan at the time the deportation order was announced, while Pakistani authorities believed the number to be as high as 4.4 million.
Afghans accounted for 98 per cent of the foreign nationals in Pakistan.
The government cited increasing crime and violence, including suicide attacks, as the motivation for the mass deportations.
However, outside observers noted that there were likely also political reasons for the sudden deportations, for example, that Pakistan hoped to pressure the Taliban government to crack down on TTP safe havens in Afghanistan.