ISLAMABAD

Afghanistan on Wednesday expressed concerns over the mass expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan's capital Islamabad and garrison city Rawalpindi.

In a statement, the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said Afghan nationals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have recently been subjected to arrests, searches, and orders from the police to leave the twin cities and relocate to other parts of Pakistan.

"This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad through any formal correspondence," said the embassy on X.

The embassy added that they had taken up the issue with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but they were also unaware of the ongoing situation.

"The Embassy has held multiple meetings with relevant Pakistani authorities and officials to seek clarification on the matter—whether these actions are isolated incidents that need to be stopped or part of an official policy that should be publicly disclosed," it said.

Pakistani authorities last year announced that illegal Afghan refugees will not be allowed to live in Islamabad and Rawalpindi anymore.

The Islamabad administration made this announcement after claiming that the Afghan refugees took part in the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest rally held in November in Islamabad last year.

In October 2023, Pakistan launched the “Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan,” under which Islamabad repatriated 757,008 undocumented Afghans to its western neighbor until late last year.

Pakistan calls for ‘conducive conditions’ for returnees

Reacting to the Afghan Embassy's statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called the remarks about the mistreatment of Afghan nationals "misplaced."

"I would like to remind him (the embassy) that Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans for decades with respect and dignity while extending traditional hospitality, sharing its resources and services such as education and health, even with very little international support," a spokesman from the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Asserting that Islamabad had "extensively" engaged Kabul to ensure the smooth repatriation of Afghan nationals, he urged interim Afghan authorities to create "conducive conditions" in Afghanistan so that returnees could fully integrate into Afghan society.