PESHAWAR: Tens of thousands of Afghan families settled in Pakistan for the last over four decades have started leaving for their homeland after the deadline for the Afghan Citizen Card holders ended on March 31.
Eidul Fitr had slowed the repatriation of the undocumented and ACC card holder foreigners for a few days.
Reports said over 140 Afghans have returned to their homeland via the Torkham border in the last three days.
Arrangements are being finalised at two camps established in Peshawar and Khyber district to facilitate the families returning via Torkham.
The repatriation had to begin on April 1 which coincided with Eidul Fitr due to which the process slowed.
Police officials said no action has been taken against the Afghan families in any part of the province. Pakistan has been hosting millions of Afghans for around five decades since the invasion of the USSR on Afghanistan in 1979. While hundreds of thousands of families have returned to their country in the last few years, over 2.1 million are still living in KP and other provinces.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has expressed its concerns regarding the process.
“UNHCR is concerned regarding the latest directive, as among the Afghan Citizen Cardholders, there may be individuals requiring international protection. In that light, we are urging the government to see their situation through a humanitarian lens,” said Qaiser Khan Afridi, the spokesman for the UNHCR.
The UN body also called for engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan so the return can be dignified and voluntary.
“It is imperative that returns are voluntary and dignified so that reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable,” said Afridi.
A majority of the 2.1 million documented Afghans are settled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Out of the 2.1 million, over 800,000 are ACC card holders while around 1.3 million possess the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.
The PoR card holders were registered with the support of UNHCR in 2006 while ACC card holders were documented in 2017 after the National Action Plan was launched. As per the statistics over 709,000 Afghans are registered in different districts of KP. Among these, 344,000 are settled in 43 camps set up in different districts.
The data of all the ACC card holder Afghans being collected through the concerned departments to facilitate them in their return.
The authorities concerned have been directed to treat the returning families with respect and care.
A large number of Afghan families have already planned their return to Afghanistan. Many have shut their shops and businesses and others are busy packing.
There are hundreds of thousands of Afghans settled in the provincial capital of KP, the city that hosts the highest number of Afghan nationals than any other district.
Thousands of Afghans are doing their own businesses. Majority of them are vendors, while others have been doing jobs in the city for the last many decades. They are living in many urban, suburban and rural areas along with the local populace.
There were hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals too who were living in Pakistan for decades. A huge majority of them returned to their country under a voluntary repatriation plan in 2023.
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