PESHAWAR: The federal government on Wednesday ordered the immediate de-notification of the last 28 Afghan refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bringing an over 40-year-long story of temporary settlements in the province to an end.

A drive to expel more than 1.3 million Afghan nationals with Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders, the last category of refugees legally living in the country without visas, has been under way since Sept 1 this year.

A notification issued by the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and States and Frontier Regions on Monday said that under the Ministry of Interior’s July 31 order, 28 refugee camps across KP were de-notified with immediate effect.

Eight of the de-notified camps are located in Peshawar, five in Hangu, four in Kohat, three each in Nowshera and Dir, two each in Mardan and Swabi, and one in Buner.

Camps are located in Peshawar, Hangu, Kohat, Nowshera, Dir, Mardan, Swabi, Buner

The ministry said that all lands and non-movable assets in the de-notified area would be formally handed over to the deputy commissioner of the district concerned by the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees.

The de-notified camps in the provincial capital are located in Kababian, Badabher, Khazana, Naguman, Khurasan, Mera Kachorai, Shamshatu and Hajizai areas. In Nowshera, Akora Khattak, Khairabad and Turkaman refugee camps have been de-notified, while orders for the closure of Lakhti Banda, Kata Kani, Kahi, Darasmand and Thall camps in Hangu and Gamkol, Oblen Ghaulam Banda and Chichanacamps in Kohat have been issued.

Similarly, Jalala and Baghicha in Mardan, Barakai and Gandaf in Swabi, Koga in Buner and Chakdara, Timer and Toor camps in Dir have been de-notified.

On Oct 13, the ministry had ordered immediate de-notification of 10 camps in several districts of the province.

The camps included Zafarabad in Dera Ismail Khan, Dabara in Tank, Gandi Khan Khel in Lakki Marwat, Bizenkhel in Bannu, Khaki, Ichrian and Bareri in Mansehra, Utmanzai and Munda in Charsadda and Zangal Patai in Malakand.

On Sept 25, de-notification of Panian, Basu Mera and Padhana camps in Haripur, Kessu in Chitral and Barawal in Upper Dir was ordered.

An official of the Commssionerate of Afghan Refugees told Dawn that there were 43 refugee camps across the province.

He said that five camps were de-notified in September, 10 on Oct 13 and the remaining 28 on Oct 15. There are no more such camps in the province.

The official said that 350,000 Afghans holding PoR cards lived in those camps.

He said that though those camps had been de-notified, refugees still lived there with the exception of the Kessu camp in Chitral from where all occupants had been evicted.

Regarding evictions from the remaining camps, he said that it was likely to take some time.

An Oct 6 report of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Pakistan said 702,643 Afghan nationals had returned to Afghanistan since April this year, with 80,302 of them being deported.

It said that during the reporting period, returns decreased by 28pc, while deportations increased by 82pc, compared to the previous bi-weekly period.

“The surge in deportations is primarily linked to intensified crackdown operations in Balochistan and Punjab, with the sharpest rise in arrests recorded in Chaghi district,” IOM said.

It said that since Sept, 15, 2023, 1.5 million individuals had gone back to Afghanistan, while 750,685 had returned since Jan 1, 2025.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2025