Taliban confirm Pakistan’s new plan for swift mass eviction of Afghan refugees  

FILE - Afghanistan's minister for refugees Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, center, looks on as he arrives to inspect a refugee camp near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar province on Nov. 2, 2023.

Diplomats from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban reported Wednesday that neighboring Pakistan is implementing a plan for the “imminent” and swift mass deportation of nearly three million Afghan refugees from its territory. The Taliban-operated embassy in Islamabad issued the statement, ending days of uncertainty about an ongoing police crackdown to arrest and remove Afghan citizens, including legal refugees, from the Pakistani capital and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi. The Afghan diplomatic mission stated that Pakistan did not formally notify Kabul about its latest refugee deportation plans. It added that several attempts were made through diplomatic channels to seek clarification from the host government regarding the reasons behind the detentions and removals of Afghan nationals from the two cities. “Ultimately, officials from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is a definitive and final plan to deport/remove all Afghan refugees not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi but also from the entire country in the near future,” the Wednesday statement noted. The Taliban reaction comes nearly three weeks after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a multistage plan targeting the Afghan refugee population in the country. They include more than 1.4 million legally declared refugees with UNHCR-granted proof of registration cards, or PoRs, who have been granted permission by Pakistan to remain in the country until June 30, 2025.