The Ministry of Interior on Sunday issued a directive to immediately arrest any Afghan national “found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa” from July 10, 2026.

In a notification addressing the chief secretaries of all provinces, as well as those of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the chief commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory, the ministry said that the directive referred to the decisions taken during a review meeting on the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP) on June 1, 2026.

It said that during the meeting, “all provincial governments, special area governments and the ICT Administration were directed to expedite the repatriation/deportation of Afghan nationals, including visa overstay cases, and to ensure strict implementation of the IFRP”.

“With effect from July 10, 2026, any Afghan national found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa shall be arrested immediately,” the notification said.

It added that the necessary directions might, therefore, be issued to all deputy commissioners, district administrations, police and other law enforcement agencies concerned to ensure “uniform and effective implementation” of these directions.

The directive also requested that a report detailing the “number of Afghan nationals found without valid visas, the action taken against them, and their present status, may kindly be furnished to this ministry on a daily basis, commencing July 11, 2026”.

“The matter may be accorded top priority and compliance ensured in letter and spirit,” the notification said.

Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing successive wars, as well as hundreds of thousands who arrived after the return of the Tali­ban government in 2021.

A deportation drive first launched in 2023 was renewed in April last year when the government rescinded hun­dreds of thousands of residence permits for Afghans, warning them of arrests if they did not leave.

Last year alone, over a million Afghan nationals were deported by Pakistan, a Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) was informed.

Pakistan deported a total of 1,155,221 Afghan nationals in 2025, top officials of the Ministry of Interior and Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees told the meeting.

The repatriated Afghans included 163,429 proof of registration card holders, 74,943 Afghan citizen card holders, 509,671 undocumented individuals and 407,178 voluntary returnees.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the repatriations appear to have picked up pace in the current year, with nearly 150,000 Afghans returning home from Pakistan and Iran by mid-February 2026. These returns added to the 5.4 million Afghans who have gone back to Afghanistan from the same two neighbouring countries since October 2023.