Thousands of Afghans have crossed the border from Pakistan in recent days, according to the United Nations and Taliban officials, as Islamabad has increased pressure for their return to their country of origin.
Last month, Pakistan set an early April deadline for approximately 800,000 Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) issued by Pakistani authorities to depart the country. This marks another phase in Islamabad’s ongoing campaign over recent years to remove Afghans from the country.
Families carrying their belongings lined up at the key border crossings of Torkham in the north and Spin Boldak in the south, reminiscent of similar scenes in 2023 when tens of thousands of Afghans fled threats of deportation in Pakistan.
“In the last 2 days, 8,025 undocumented & ACC holders returned via Torkham & Spin Boldak crossings,” the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated in a post on social media platform X on Monday.
Taliban officials also reported that thousands of people had crossed the border, though at lower figures than those reported by the IOM.
Refugee ministry spokesperson Abdul Mutalib Haqqani informed AFP that 6,000-7,000 Afghans had returned since the beginning of April, cautioning that these numbers could rise in the coming days following the end of the holidays marking the conclusion of Ramadan.
“We are urging Pakistani authorities not to deport them (Afghans) forcefully — there should be a proper mechanism with an agreement between both countries, and they must be returned with dignity,” he asserted.
The UN estimates that nearly three million Afghans reside in Pakistan, many having sought refuge there over decades of conflict in their homeland and following the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021.
Relations between the neighboring nations have strained since the Taliban’s takeover, with Pakistan accusing Kabul’s leadership of failing to eliminate militants finding shelter on Afghan territory, an accusation the Taliban government denies.
