The Pakistan government has pushed out the deadline to next week for hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees to return to their country due to Eid al-Fitr.

AFP reported that a government official said on condition of anonymity that “the deadline has been extended until the beginning of next week due to Eid holidays.”

In early March, Islamabad announced a March 31 deadline for Afghans holding certain documentation to leave the country.

Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) — issued by Pakistan authorities and held by 800,000 people, according to the United Nations — face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline.

More than 1.3 million Afghans who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, are also to be moved outside the capital Islamabad and neighbouring city Rawalpindi.

On Friday, Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqv chaired a high-level meeting to review the repatriation process of ACC holders.

He stated that continuous coordination is being maintained between the federal and provincial governments regarding the repatriation process, and the federal government will provide full support to the provinces.

Additionally, a committee has been formed based on the recommendations of the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said.

Naqvi also stated that Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry will visit the provinces to resolve any issues arising during the repatriation process.

In addition, all arrangements for the repatriation of Afghan Citizen Card holders have been completed, Naqvi said, adding that a door-to-door awareness campaign is underway, and the mapping of Afghan Citizen Card holders has been finalized.
Holding centers, food provisions, and healthcare facilities have also been arranged for those returning, he said.

The Ministry of Economy has called on the United States to release Afghanistan’s frozen assets and return the funds to the country’s central bank.

Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, also urged the international community and other countries to lift banking sanctions and restrictions against Afghanistan and for continued humanitarian and developmental aid to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

Afghanistan has been experiencing an economic crisis for more than three and a half years, with many citizens facing dire financial conditions. This crisis is largely attributed to the freezing of Afghanistan’s central bank assets by the U.S. and the international community’s banking sanctions on the country.

While criticizing the continuation of these pressures, calls on the U.S. to release Afghanistan’s frozen assets and hand them over to the country’s central bank have continued to be made.

Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, also emphasized the importance of rebuilding Afghanistan’s infrastructure and urged the international community to support Afghanistan through sustained humanitarian and developmental assistance.

Meanwhile, experts believe that if Afghanistan’s assets are released and economic and banking sanctions are lifted, it could help the country emerge from its economic crisis and improve its financial situation.

This comes after the Islamic Emirate took power in Afghanistan, prompting the United States to freeze more than $9.5 billion of the country’s central bank reserves. However, in 2022, $3.5 billion of these funds were transferred to a trust fund in Switzerland to be used for Afghanistan’s economic aid. Currently, another $3.5 billion remains frozen in U.S. banks, while over $2 billion is held in banks in Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

There are growing concerns about the destruction of the World Bank’s unfinished projects in Afghanistan, with some on the verge of collapse, said Noorulhadi Adel, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Rural Development.

He urged the World Bank to resume work on incomplete projects in Afghanistan.

Economic experts have meanwhile said the completion of these projects is crucial for Afghanistan’s development.

Despite these concerns, Adel said they have planned the implementation of several projects in various provinces in the current solar year.

Following the collapse of the republic government, work stopped on the Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project (CCAP) which delivered clean water, electricity, roads and irrigation, healthcare, and education to communities across the country.

CCAP was carried out by the former government. However other major regional projects funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other financial institutions were also stopped.