Pakistan To Launch Second Phase Of Its Repatriation Drive To Send Documented Afghans Back To Afghanistan

Pakistan has started preparations to launch the second phase of its repatriation drive to send nearly one million documented Afghans back to Afghanistan, with orders given to district authorities and police to find and gather data of their whereabouts across the nation. An official aware of the development said directives have been issued to district administrations and police to expedite the mapping of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, the report said. No date has been announced yet. 

However, an official said the campaign to repatriate ACC holders could start in early to mid-summer, after receiving go ahead from Pakistan’s federal government.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s additional



chief secretary Abid Majeed said, the mapping process has already begun, adding that it will pick up pace after Ramazan and is likely to complete the survey before April 30.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 2.18 million documented Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which include 1.3 million refugees having Proof of Registration (PoR) cards as per the census conducted in 2006-07 and an additional 880,000 refugees issued ACCs after a registration drive in 2017. Afghans arrived in Pakistan after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. According to officials, the number of Afghans who arrived in Pakistan was between 6 to 8 lakh.