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UNHCR calls on Pakistan to halt forced returns of Afghan PoR cardholders
Currently, around 1.4 million Afghan PoR cardholders remain in Pakistan, OCHA reported.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday called on Pakistan to cease forced repatriations of Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, with its spokesperson Babar Baloch warning that the move contradicts international legal obligations and could destabilize the region.
Speaking in Geneva, Baloch expressed deep concern over reports of arrests, detentions, and coercive returns of PoR cardholders under Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” announced on July 31. Since then, UNHCR has documented arrests targeting both registered refugees and undocumented migrants across Pakistan.
“We acknowledge and appreciate Pakistan’s generosity in hosting refugees for over 40 years amid its own challenges,” Baloch said, stressing that PoR cardholders have been officially recognized as refugees for decades.
“Their forced return is contrary to Pakistan’s long-standing humanitarian approach to this group and would constitute a violation of the principle of non‑refoulement.”
The issue comes amid one of history’s largest refugee returns. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 26 July, an estimated 1,668 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan in 2025, including 1,2 million from Iran and 389,000 from Pakistan.
Between 1 and 26 July alone, approximately 539,000 individuals returned from Iran, accounting for almost one-third of the overall number of people that have returned from Iran so far this year.
During OCHA’s reporting period (20-26 July), daily arrivals from Iran averaged around 11,000.
In contrast, returnees from Pakistan during the same period averaged 1,100 per day.
However, returns from Pakistan are expected to rise in the coming months following the signing of a Statutory Regulatory Order on the Repatriation of Afghans by the Government of Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior on 31 July which confirmed that the validity of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards expired on 30 June 2025 and rendered the continued stay of PoR cardholders as unlawful.
Currently, around 1.4 million Afghan PoR cardholders remain in Pakistan, OCHA reported.
The cumulative effect of mass return is compounding a dire humanitarian crisis.
According to OCHA, food security, healthcare, housing, and livelihoods systems in Afghanistan are all overstretched—raising the specter of renewed displacement, regional instability, and heightened protection needs.
Local refugee leaders and international human rights groups have echoed UNHCR’s warnings, describing the recent enforcement campaigns as opaque, coercive, and lacking legal safeguards. Many deportees have returned to destroyed homes, broken communities, and little to no economic opportunity.
Despite mounting pressure, Pakistan maintains that actions taken are in line with domestic law and part of a broader anti-illegal immigration initiative that includes Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders and undocumented migrants.
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Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes
Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.
In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.
“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.
His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”
Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.
The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.
The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan summons Pakistani chargé d’affaires over latest airstrikes
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.
The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.
The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.
It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.
The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.
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Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar
The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.
Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.
Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.
According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.
Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.
The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.
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