Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – The Afghan embassy in Islamabad has warned that Pakistan is preparing to expel all Afghan refugees, amid reports of widespread arrests and forced relocations in the capital and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi.
In a statement on Wednesday, the embassy expressed concern over what it described as an intensified crackdown on Afghan nationals. It noted that Afghan residents in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have faced police searches, arrests, and orders to relocate to other parts of the country.
“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,” the statement said.
Pakistan is home to approximately 1.45 million registered Afghan refugees, according to the UNHCR, alongside hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals. Many Afghans fled to Pakistan during decades of conflict, particularly after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
The warning from the Afghan embassy has raised concerns about the treatment and future of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, with rights groups calling for clarity on Islamabad’s policies. Pakistani officials have yet to comment on the embassy’s statement.
