Pakistan asks illegal foreigners, Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave by March 31

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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan’s interior ministry on Friday asked all “illegal foreigners” and Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave the country before March 31, warning they would otherwise be deported from April 1.

Islamabad has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country. Kabul has rejected the accusations.

“Pakistan has been a gracious host and continues to fulfil its commitments and obligations as a responsible state,” the country’s interior ministry said in a statement. “It is reiterated that individuals staying in Pakistan will have to fulfil all legal formalities.”

Pakistan launched its repatriation drive of foreign citizens, most of whom are Afghan, in 2023, but had said they were first focusing on foreigners with no legal documentation.

More than 800,000 Afghans hold an Afghan Citizen Card in Pakistan, according to U.N. data. Another roughly 1.3 million are formally registered with the Pakistan government and hold a separate Proof of Residence card. The statement did not specify how PoR holders would be affected.

The U.N. says that more than 800,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan since the repatriation drive began and that in total Pakistan hosted around 2.8 million Afghan refugees who crossed the border during 40 years of conflict in their homeland.

Among those are tens of thousands of Afghans in the process for resettlement to the United States and other Western nations following their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 as the Taliban took over.

(Reporting by Islamabad bureau; Writing by Sakshi Dayal and Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)