Pakistan prepares for second phase of Afghan refugee repatriations
According to the media, Pakistan will launch the second phase of its repatriation drive in which it will send nearly one million Afghans back to their homeland. The campaign to repatriate hundreds of thousands of ACC holders could begin in early to mid-summer.
According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, there are 2.18 million documented Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This includes the 1.3 million refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards as per the census carried out in 2006-07, as well as an additional 880,000 refugees granted ACCs following a registration drive in 2017.
Instructions had been issued to district administrations and police to expedite the mapping of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, Dawn reported.
After the Taliban took over power in August 2021, an influx of worried Afghans was seen coming to Pakistan.
Officials put their numbers anywhere between 6,00,000 and 8,00,000, some with valid travel documents, but an uncertain future.
Pakistan launched the first round of repatriation of what it called “undocumented aliens” in November last year, Dawn reported.
No official data has been released as to how many of the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans have left for their country since November 2023, though the figure likely fell hugely short of what is now being considered a grossly exaggerated number, the report said.
According to sources, the total number of undocumented Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in the first round stands at around the half-million mark, Dawn reported.
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West will continue keep its deaf ears !!