Pakistan closes five Afghan refugee camps after 40 years

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal government has ordered the closure of five Afghan refugee camps established 40 years ago following the repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan.

Under the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP), Pakistan recently sent back more than 600,000 Afghan nationals via the Torkham border and other crossing points.

Millions of Afghans have fled to Pakistan over the past several decades to escape successive wars, while hundreds of thousands more arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

A deportation drive launched in 2023 was renewed in April when Pakistan revoked hundreds of thousands of residence permits, warning Afghans without valid documents of arrest and deportation. The campaign has broad support among Pakistanis, many of whom have grown weary of hosting a large refugee population amid worsening security and economic challenges.

Security forces are also under pressure along the Afghan border, confronting a growing insurgency by nationalist groups and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sources said five refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are being shut down. The Ministry of Interior has issued a notification ordering their closure, with the land to be handed over to the provincial government and relevant deputy commissioners.

Three of the camps were in Haripur district, while one was in Chitral and one in Upper Dir. The Panian camp in Haripur — established 40 years ago — once sheltered over 100,000 refugees.

According to the UNHCR, most Afghan refugees in Pakistan still reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has previously opposed the forced repatriation drive, while the provincial information adviser recently demanded an immediate halt to deportations.

Earlier, the UNHCR expressed regret over Pakistan’s decision to repatriate nearly 1.4 million Afghan refugees. The IFRP — launched by the caretaker government in October 2023 — set out a three-phase process to deport Afghans living in Pakistan, citing security concerns.

The first phase targeted unregistered Afghans, who were given 30 days to leave voluntarily or face deportation. Later phases covered Afghan Citizen Card holders and Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders.