PESHAWAR/KHYBER: A total of 153 Afghan refugees have voluntarily left for Afghanistan from different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa via Torkham border crossing to prevent the government’s crackdown.

On Wednesday, officials from the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees in the provincial capital said that the government had established two transit points for sending Afghan refugees back to their country, with one in Khyber tribal district and the other in Peshawar.

They said that the second phase of the repatriation exercise for Afghan refugees with Afghan Citizen Cards, a document that showed that the Afghan refugees were registered in Pakistan, was similar to the first one as all those being sent back would be registered with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

On Thursday, senior government officials said that 153 ACC holders left Pakistan voluntarily after the repatriation deadline expired on March 31.

Official insists force to be used only if ACC holders refuse to leave voluntarily

“Although the deadline has expired, no one has been picked up or forced to leave since the government wants an honourable return of Afghan refugees. The crackdown has yet to begin,” a senior government official told Dawn.

He added that since March 31, 27 out of 153 Afghan refugees left on Wednesday. The official said that a report on the number of Afghans who returned on Thursday would be filed later.

Besides 153 registered refugees, around 850 illegal foreigners also left for Afghanistan.

“These 850 persons are those who had been living in Pakistan without any documentation. They lacked ACC and Proof of Registration cards, so they’re undocumented,” the official said, adding that the government will only use force if the refugees refuse to leave voluntarily.

On Wednesday, officials said that the deportation process for ACC holders was to begin on April 1 but the KP government extended the deadline until April 2 in view of Eid holidays.

A senior official at the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees in Peshawar said that the government did not want to use force and expected ACC holders to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.

Since the reparation of Afghan refugees illegally residing in Pakistan began in 2023, over 477,434 Afghans, including women and children, have left for their country.

Official data revealed that over 470,722 Afghans, including women and children, departed Pakistan through the Torkham border crossing and 698 through Kharlachi border and one illegal foreigner through the Sost border to China.

Also, 2,953 Afghan nationals, illegally residing in other parts of the country, left for Afghanistan through KP. They included 1,561 from Islamabad, 1,309 from Punjab, one from Gilgit-Baltistan and 44 from Sindh.

The data also showed that among 477,434 Afghans who left for their country since Sept 2023, 468,481 did so voluntarily, while 8,953 were deported.

Meanwhile, six Afghan families voluntarily returned to their country from the Khyber tribal district on Thursday.

Officials remained tight-lipped about the number of individuals and the process adopted to repatriate the “willing” Afghans.

Police in Landi Kotal said that the six families who had gone back on Thursday were not handed over to them nor were they registered at the temporary registration established near Hamza Baba’s mausoleum.

The families comprised 27 male and 13 female members.

Sources at the registration centre said that the facility had yet not become fully operational, so registration of the returning Afghans couldn’t be initiated.

Meanwhile, additional chief Secretary Home and Tribal affairs department visited the centre in Landi Kotal on Thursday and reviewed arrangements for the deportation of illegal Afghan nationals.

He was received by the deputy commissioner of Khyber tribal district along with the DPO, and representatives of Rescue 1122, health department, Nadra, FIA and PDMA.

The DC briefed the additional chief secretary and his team about the services provided at the centre.

He said ACC holders and illegal foreigners would be provided with all necessary assistance for return to their country.

Meanwhile, imports from Afghanistan remained suspended for the second day on Thursday as the National Logistic Cell failed to fix the faulty scanner.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025