Pakistan orders arrest of Afghans without visas

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has ordered law enforcement nationwide to arrest Afghan citizens without visas from July 10, according to a directive seen by AFP on Monday, part of an intensifying deportation drive.

The order is likely to exacerbate a years-long repatriation policy that has pushed back millions of Afghans — some who had lived in Pakistan for decades and others who fled their home country following Taliban authorities’ return to power in 2021.

The interior ministry directive — confirmed by an official to AFP — was addressed to all of Pakistan’s provinces and territories, instructing them that “with effect from 10th July 2026, any Afghan national found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa shall be immediately arrested”.

Refugee advocates and migrants have reported that over the past several years authorities have regularly stopped and detained Afghans and searched areas where many are living as the government carried out waves of deportations that initially targeted those with no UN or government-provided registration cards.

Some were formally deported, according to UN data, but many returned to Afghanistan voluntarily, though they spoke of feeling immense pressure forcing them to leave.

The new directive appeared to formalise and escalate a policy of detaining Afghans as Pakistan vows to take action against growing militancy it says emanates from Afghanistan — an accusation denied by authorities there.

The order did not say whether those arrested would face charges, punishment or deportation.

Fear and uncertainty

The directive “has created fear and uncertainty among thousands who are struggling to renew their immigration status”, said Samar Abbas, a Karachi-based human rights lawyer who defends Afghan refugees.

“Many have spent decades in Pakistan… they now find themselves caught between two states often paying the price for political decisions beyond their control,” he told AFP.

The order also directed provinces to record the number of Afghans found without visas and action taken against them and share the information with the central government in daily reports from July 11.

The directive is dated Sunday, the day after a deadly attack on a paramilitary camp in Karachi that Pakistani authorities said involved an Afghan national and a militant group whose weapons stores and hideouts Islamabad announced it struck in Afghanistan overnight.

The Afghan government said dozens of civilians were killed in Pakistan’s strikes and has repeatedly denied its territory is used for militancy.

Analysts say many of the insurgent groups that Pakistan has battled for years are largely homegrown.

Four decades of war sent millions of Afghans into neighbouring Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands more arrived after foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, many waiting in hopes of resettling in countries whose militaries they had once assisted.

Pakistan, facing growing attacks, announced in 2023 it would begin deporting undocumented foreigners.

More than 2.3 million Afghans have since returned, according to UN data, with 516,000 crossing the border so far this year to a country struggling with a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Pakistan remains home to more than a million Afghans, the majority of them refugees, according to the UN.