Pakistan - November 2023

Pakistan initiated a nationwide crackdown on foreign nationals it deemed illegal residents, declaring 1 November as the deadline for nearly 2 million unregistered Afghans to leave the country. The deportation policy has widely been criticized by human rights groups and the UN, citing concern that those forcibly returned face Taliban persecution and a humanitarian crisis, particularly acute for vulnerable groups like women, girls, and minorities. On 27 November, Human Rights Watch reported that Pakistani authorities have committed widespread abuse in compelling Afghan nationals to leave, including ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detention, and destruction of property and identity documents.

Update: Pakistan set a deadline of 30 April 2025 for undocumented Afghans to leave the country and deported at least 19,500 in the month ahead of the deadline. Human rights experts repeatedly urged the government to reverse the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’.

Sources: Human Rights Watch, Dawn (1), BBC News (1), International Crisis Group, OHCHR (1), BBC News (2), OHCHR (2), Deutsch Welle, Dawn (2), Jurist