Afghan officials on Sunday called on Pakistan to prepare a joint mechanism for the gradual repatriation of refugees, adding that forced deportation is in neither country’s interests.

The interior ministry, in a statement on March 7, had stated “All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before 31 March 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence wef 1 April 2025.”

Mufti Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, said that bringing the refugees back is official Afghan policy, but it should be under a joint mechanism with Pakistan so that refugees are returned gradually and with “honour”.

“But if Pakistan unilaterally sends refugees, we are fully prepared to receive them,” the spokesman told the Taliban’s Hurriyat Radio.

“We have held meetings with Pakistani officials on the issue and are still in contact with them,” he added. “Our demand is that they (Afghan refugees) should not be forcibly deported, as deportation is not only against international laws but contrary to Islamic values and an act against good, neighbourly norms.

“Their forced deportation is also not in the interests of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have always demanded that there should be a joint mechanism for the repatriation of Afghan refugees and they should return in fewer numbers so they can be accommodated with dignity.”

The spokesperson added that Afghans are being sent back by force and that Iran is willing to prepare a joint mechanism with Afghanistan through an understanding.

Haqqani added that a commission was set up to protect and assist refugees and that they would be given land in different parts of the country, while skilled refugees would be given jobs.

“Those who want to invest, no tax will be imposed for five years and no tax on whatever they brought to the country,” Haqqani added.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials maintain that returnees from Pakistan are welcomed at camps in Torkham and receive assistance.

Siddiqullah Qureshi, head of the Nangarhar provincial information department, told Afghan state news agency Bakhtar that a total of 325 refugees arrived via Torkham on Friday.

“The returnees include 249 members of 62 families and 31 other individuals were deported on April 13,” he said. “Repatriation via Torkham has intensified recently and returnees are being facilitated with registration and other facilities.”

A high-ranking provincial delegation led by Nangarhar Deputy Governor Maulvi Azizullah Mustafa travelled to the Torkham border to closely monitor the process of the second wave of Afghans returning from Pakistan and to improve coordination and measures to address their initial problems and needs, Bakhtar reported.

On the Pakistani side, a camp to facilitate the repatriation of Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders is now functional. Staff at the camp at Landi Kotal are now clearing refugees for repatriation, Bakhtar added.

Officials in Khyber district on Sunday said that the cases of a total of 850 Afghans were processed at Landi Kotal camp and Torkham for repatriation. On Saturday, a total of 777 Afghans were deported via Torkham.

A senior official in Khyber district told Dawn.com that since April 1, 11,272 Afghans have been repatriated.

Pakistan has not accepted calls from the Afghan Taliban leaders and started repatriation and deportation from November 1 under a previous announcement.

The interior ministry says the (Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan) IFRP was implemented on November 1, 2023. Under the IFRP, over 700,000 undocumented Afghans have already left Pakistan since the process was launched.

“In continuation to the government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders,” the March 7 statement stated.

Pakistan hosts 1.52 million registered Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, an estimated 800,000 Afghan citizenship holders, along with others living in the country without official recognition, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Pakistan representative Philippa Candler.