Pakistan closes 16 Afghan refugee camps

Elaha Sun Sep 2025 2 months ago 237

According to the newspaper Dawn, this action is part of a program to deport over 1.3 million Afghan migrants holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. The Pakistani government invalidated these cards on September 1 of this year and initiated the process of repatriating the migrants.


The targeted camps are located in areas such as Haripur, Chitral, and Upper Dir (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Chagai, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, and Quetta (Balochistan), and Mianwali (Punjab).


Abdul Samad, a representative of the “Panian” camp in Haripur, stated that this camp hosts approximately 13,000 families and over 90,000 Afghan migrants. He added that local authorities have requested the evacuation of the camp, but no forced actions or detentions have taken place so far.


Meanwhile, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, emphasized that Afghan migrants will not be forcibly repatriated.


The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed concern over Pakistan’s decision and called for a “voluntary, phased, safe, and dignified” return of migrants. Qaisar Khan Afridi, the spokesperson for the agency in Pakistan, stated: “Individuals in need of international protection or those with humanitarian conditions should be protected against forced repatriation.”


On the other hand, Afghan migrants are grappling with serious challenges. Ghada Ali Khan Zadran, a representative of migrants in the Mianwali camp, said that the cost of transporting household belongings from this area to Afghanistan has risen from 300,000 Pakistani rupees to 600,000 rupees, and trucks for transporting goods are hard to find.


Since November 2023, Pakistan has adopted a stricter policy toward Afghan migrants. The country’s authorities claim that the presence of millions of migrants has increased economic and security pressures. In contrast, international organizations warn that forced repatriation exposes migrants to the risks of poverty, Taliban persecution, and deprivation of basic services, while many of these families have lived in Pakistan for over four decades, and Afghanistan is an unfamiliar land for their younger generation.

Pakistani media have reported that the of Pakistan has decided to close 16 Afghan refugee camps in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab, simultaneously with the implementation of a plan to deport undocumented migrants.

ilaha

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