United States Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome has appreciated Pakistan’s decision to extend the stay of registered Afghan refugees by a year, a statement from the US embassy in Pakistan said on Friday.

A large number of Afghan immigrants, with an estimated 1.7m undocumented as of October 2023, reside in Pakistan. Last October, the caretaker government had announced the repatriation of all illegal foreigners citing security concerns. The decision was alleged to be meant for Afghan refugees, a charge that was denied by officials.

Pakistan launched the first round of deportation in November last year, and according to state-run Radio Pakistan, 675,190 Afghans have returned to their country as of August 4 under the drive.

While the government had decided to begin the second round of repatriation of holders of Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC), it last month granted 1.45 million Afghan refugees another year, extending their permitted stay in Pakistan till June 30, 2025.

According to the US Mission Spokesperson Jonathan Lalley, Blome expressed the sentiments in a meeting today with Minister of States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam in Islamabad.

While thanking Muqam for Pakistan’s “long history of hosting Afghan refugees”, Blome also reaffirmed the US’s commitment to working with Pakistan to “assist Afghan refugees and Pakistani community members in areas hosting refugees”.

Blome “expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s recent decision to extend the validity of refugee Proof of Registration cards”, Lalley’s statement said.

PoR is a critical identity document held by registered Afghan refugees.

Lalley added that Blome also thanked Pakistan for the “positive steps taken to address protection concerns, and for our countries’ continued cooperation to facilitate the safe, efficient resettlement of eligible Afghans” to the US.

The decision to extend the refugees’ stay had come a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, who was visiting Pakistan.

PM Shehbaz had urged the international community to recognise the “burden of Afghan refugees” being shouldered by Pakistan and demonstrate “collective responsibility” to deal with the issue. Grandi had also met with Muqam and Deputy Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.