Pakistan government says 44,000 Afghans await relocation to Western countries

Pakistan announced on July 11 that it was hosting at least 44,000 Afghan nationals who had been approved for relocation to their country by Western countries due to fears of Taliban retaliation.

Pakistan saw a mass exodus of Afghans from the country in 2021 after the NATO-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban invaded Kabul.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a weekly press conference in Islamabad that at least 44,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Western countries are still in Pakistan.

She said 25,000 Afghans have been approved to emigrate to the United States, 9,000 Afghan nationals have been allowed to emigrate to Australia, 6,000 to Canada, 3,000 to Germany and more than 1,000 to the UK but are still living in Pakistan.

Baloch said they have not all yet emigrated, despite nearly three years having passed since the NATO-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban invaded Kabul, triggering a painful exodus of Afghans who felt threatened by the new government.

“We have urged these countries and individuals to expedite the approval and visa process so that they can relocate as soon as possible,” Baloch said.

Initially, Pakistan allowed fleeing Afghans to enter the country without hindrance, but relations with the Kabul interim government gradually deteriorated over the issue of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan.

Last year, Pakistan launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, and more than 500,000 are reported to have returned to Afghanistan so far.

Last October, the interim government announced its decision to expel all illegal foreigners, dealing a particularly hard blow to Afghans living in Pakistan.

OPINION | Inhumane decision to expel Afghan refugees

The forced deportation of illegal Afghan refugees has been ongoing since the government gave them an ultimatum to leave Pakistan by November 1 last year.

Pakistan has refused to ease its crackdown on Afghans entering the country illegally despite requests from Kabul, but a meeting on Tuesday between UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised hopes that Islamabad might reconsider the crackdown.

Grandi’s remarks also indicated Pakistan’s intention to stop expelling Afghans, but Baloch said Pakistan was committed to implementing its plan to repatriate illegal foreigners.

She said the first phase of the plan is nearly complete, referring to undocumented foreigners, including Afghans, who have been repatriated to their home countries.

The spokesman clarified that Pakistan has not given any understanding to UNHCR about halting the project.

However, she noted that the government had approved a one-year extension to the validity of Afghan refugee registration certificates.

EDITORIAL | Scapegoating: Afghan refugees in Pakistan

Baloch also rejected any talks with the TTP, claiming it was involved in the killings of Pakistanis and foreigners inside Pakistan.

She also said Pakistan respects Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We expect the Afghan authorities to safeguard their country’s sovereignty and take action against terrorist groups that have found haven inside Afghanistan and are using its territory to launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan,” she said.