PESHAWAR: Pakistan will begin the fresh phase of Afghan refugee repatriation on April 1. Authorities plan to expel hundreds of thousands of Afghans, both documented and undocumented, mainly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Official records show 709,278 Afghan refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hold Proof of Registration (POR) cards. They make up 52% of all POR cardholders in the country. The province has 43 Afghan refugee camps, housing 344,908 refugees. Another 307,647 Afghans in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hold Afghan Citizen Cards.
Since 2013, 465,000 Afghan refugees have returned through Torkham, said Abid Majeed, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department.
The government has given Afghans until March 31 to leave voluntarily. After that, they will face arrest and deportation.
According to the home department, the number of unregistered Afghan nationals is more than one lakh.
