KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan has temporarily halted the deportation of Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, as the government is considering extending the validity of the documents, local media reported.
According to Samaa TV, Pakistan’s Ministry of States and Frontier Regions has formally instructed authorities in all four provinces not to take any action against PoR cardholders.
The ministry’s directive urges law enforcement and senior officials, including police in Islamabad and other major cities, to refrain from harassing or detaining registered Afghan refugees.
The outlet, citing official sources, reported that the Pakistani government is considering a proposal to extend the validity of the cards by three to six months.
There are an estimated 1.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan with PoR cards—documents issued by the Pakistani government and UNHCR that offer temporary legal protection. The cards, originally introduced in 2006, expired on June 30. In recent months, officials had said they would not renew them and advised refugees to leave or face deportation.
The latest move comes amid an ongoing crackdown on undocumented Afghans that began in October 2023. Since then, more than 1.3 million Afghans have been forced to leave Pakistan, according to government figures.
Rights activists and organisations, including Amnesty International, have previously urged Islamabad to extend the validity of PoR cards and stop mass deportations.
A similar deportation campaign is underway in neighboring Iran, where over 230,000 Afghans—among them 80,000 children—were expelled in June alone, according to Save the Children. More than half were deported in the final week of the month.
