PESHAWAR: As the federal government has set the Oct 31 deadline for illegal migrants to leave the country, the threat of deportation is hanging over 0.3 million undocumented Afghans in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like the sword of Damocles.

Official documents show that the country has over 0.7 million ‘illegal’ Afghan refugees and over 0.3 million of them live in KP.

They also revealed that the registered Afghan refugees in the country totalled 1.503 million by March 2023 with over half of them - around 0.76 million - living in KP.

Around 0.345 million Afghan refugees live in 43 refugee camps across the province, according to official documents obtained by Dawn.

They face deportation as Oct 31 deadline nears

The documents showed that over 0.69 million Afghan refugees had Afghan Citizen Cards, while over one million Afghans possessed Proof of Registration Cards.

Officials of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees in the provincial capital told Dawn that over 1.5 million Afghan nationals entered Pakistan after August 2021 when Afghan Taliban took over Kabul.

They added that almost half of those Afghans got themselves registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for resettlement in Europe, the United States and other countries, while the rest stayed undocumented.

“Those [Afghans], who came to Pakistan after August 15, 2021, but were not registered with the UNHCR, are not interested in leaving for any third country as they live with their family members in Pakistan,” Commissioner Afghan Refugees Mohammad Abbas Khan told Dawn.

He said most of the undocumented Afghan nationals lived in urban areas, especially Peshawar, Karachi and Mardan.

The official said the Afghans registered with the UNHCR were not registered with the commissionerate but “at least they’re documented somewhere.”

He, however, said a policy was being framed by the interior ministry for the registration of those awaiting visas to leave for any third country for resettlement.

Official documents showed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa housed around 0.7 million registered Afghan refugees, including 0.35 million in urban areas and 0.345 million in refugee camps established across the province.

They also revealed that as of May 31, 2023, the registered Afghans living in KP totalled 0.69 million with over 0.35 million being present in urban areas and over 0.34 million in refugee camps.

The documents showed that 221,308 Afghan refugees lived in Peshawar district, 80,352 in Nowshera, 73,082 in Haripur, 68,342 in Kohat, 44,620 in Swabi, 38,169 in Mansehra, 32,714 in Hangu, 32,336 in Lower Dir, 18,924 in Mardan, 14,324 in Charsadda, 10,225 in Buner, 6,891 in Lakki Marwat, 6,705 in Malakand, 5,623 in Dera Ismail Khan, 1,986 in Upper Dir and 505 in Tank, while 5,522 registered Afghan refugees lived in Bannu.

They added that 14,348 Afghan refugees lived in urban areas of Abbottabad district, 5,609 in Khyber, 4,660 in South Waziristan, 1,992 in Mohmand, 1,972 in Swat, 1,564 in Karak, 197 in Battagram, 109 in Kurram, 64 in North Waziristan, 49 in Shangla, 31 in Bajaur, seven in Kohistan, 17 in the erstwhile tribal areas adjacent to Kohat and 10 in the erstwhile tribal areas adjacent to Peshawar, while just one registered Afghan refugee lived in the formerly tribal areas adjacent to Bannu district.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023