Pakistan sets March 31 as deadline for Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave

The Pakistan government has set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACCs) holders to leave Pakistan voluntarily as part of a plan to repatriate all illegal foreigners, according to an official document.

The document, purportedly leaked to the media on Friday night, indicated that the ACC holders staying in Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be moved out and sent back to Afghanistan as part of a multiphase relocation plan for Afghan migrants, including those awaiting resettlement in third countries.

The decision comes amidst deteriorating ties between Islamabad and Kabul over the issue of terrorism and it may impact over 800,000 documented Afghan refugees holding Afghan Citizen Cards and are included in the category of documented refugees, contrary to hundreds and thousands of undocumented ones.

It stated that the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Programme (IFRP) has been implemented since November 1, 2023 and in continuation to the government's decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, the national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders.

All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before March 31, 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence with effect from April 1, 2025, it warned.

It highlighted that sufficient time has already been granted for their dignified return and emphasised that no one will be maltreated during the repatriation process and arrangements for food and healthcare for returning foreigners have also been put in place.

It concluded by saying that Pakistan has been a gracious host and continues to fulfil its commitments and obligations as a responsible state.

It is reiterated that individuals staying in Pakistan will have to fulfil all legal formalities and abide by Pakistan's Constitution, it said.

The decision may also further complicate the resettlement of about 15,000 Afghans awaiting relocation to the United States after President Donald Trump last month halted the US Refugee Admission Programme, jeopardizing the repatriation of those Afghans who moved to Pakistan after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and were promised resettlement in the US.

Pakistan has been home to millions of Afghans, most of them moved across the porous border in the 1980s when the former USSR forces were in Afghanistan.