Pakistan Plans Deportation Of Nearly 20,000 Afghans Awaiting US Resettlement
Pakistan plans to deport thousands of Afghan refugees waiting for resettlement in the United States, according to a report by The Nation newspaper citing official sources.
Pakistan plans to deport thousands of Afghan refugees waiting for resettlement in the United States, according to a report by The Nation newspaper citing official sources.
The report said 19,973 Afghan refugees awaiting relocation to the United States are currently in Pakistan, and their information will be shared with relevant authorities to begin deportation procedures.
According to the report, the federal government will write to senior provincial officials, police authorities in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, as well as the chief commissioner of Islamabad, instructing them to take immediate steps to return Afghans awaiting US resettlement.
Following the collapse of Afghanistan’s former government in 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans fled to neighbouring countries, including Pakistan. Many have spent more than four years waiting to be resettled in third countries, particularly the United States.
In recent months, Pakistan has deported several Afghan refugees who were on US relocation lists. Some deported refugees previously told The Washington Post that Pakistani authorities no longer believe the United States will take concrete action to resettle Afghans living in Pakistan.
In December, Afghan refugees in Pakistan awaiting US resettlement issued a statement saying they should not become victims of the actions of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was accused of shooting two US National Guard soldiers. They urged Washington to resume relocation programmes for eligible Afghan migrants.
Earlier, on November 26, Lakanwal, who had travelled to the United States in the early days after the fall of the Afghan government, opened fire on two National Guard soldiers near the White House. One of the soldiers died the following day from his injuries.
After the incident, US President Donald Trump halted the processing of all Afghan immigration cases and announced that the files of Afghans who had entered the United States in recent years would be reviewed again.
Trump also suspended the issuance of visas for Afghan passport holders for an indefinite period. Asked by reporters how long the suspension would last, he said no time frame had been set and that the measure would remain in place “for a long time.”
