UNHCR calls on Pakistan to halt forced returns of Afghan PoR cardholders

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.