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PESHAWAR: Over 860,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since September 2023, with more than half a million entering Afghanistan through border crossings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the government and UN data.
Pakistan has been carrying out phase-wise repatriation of Afghans living in the country.
During the first phase, which started in 2023, the government sent back Afghan nationals residing illegally in Pakistan.
In the second phase, which began earlier this year, registered Afghan refugees carrying the Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) were asked to leave Pakistan by April 1.
According to the data released by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), from Sept 15, 2023, to April 5, 2025, 861,763 Afghans have returned to their country.
Official data shows over half a million exited through two crossings in KP
Official data showed 4,908 Afghan refugees left Pakistan on Friday.
Around 2,475 had ACC and were residing legally in Pakistan. Of them, some 2,125 left the country voluntarily, while 350 were deported through the Torkham border in KP.
As per the official data, apart from ACC holders, some 2,433 Afghan nationals, who had been residing illegally and without any documentation in Pakistan, also left on Friday.
Of them, 1,913 left voluntarily, while 520 were deported through Torkham border crossing.
Since the beginning of the second phase of repatriation of Afghan nationals on April 1, 16,242 ACC holders have left Pakistan. The data showed that 9,439 left voluntarily, while 6803 were deported.
Since September 2023, 500,040 Afghan nationals have left Pakistan through the two border crossings in KP.
The UNHCR and IOM estimated that from March 1 to April 5, an estimated 19,334 Afghans returned through the Torkham and Ghulam Khan crossings in KP and Chaman, Badini and Bahramcha crossings in Balochistan.
“From April onwards, a noticeable increase in returns and deportations was recorded, particularly on 4 and 5 April, where more than 2,000 returns were recorded on each day,” IOM noted.
According to officials, Afghan refugees were also transported from Punjab and Islamabad for deportation.
They were moved to two transit camps in Peshawar and Landi Kotal and went through a registration process before being sent back to Afghanistan.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2025
