PESHAWAR: Repatriation of registered Afghan nationals and those residing illegally in Pakistan continued as over 1,900 left for Afghanistan on Thursday night, officials said.

They said that some 622 Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders and 1,304 those residing illegally in Pakistan left for their home through Torkham in Landi Kotal district.

The officials said that 436 out of 622 ACC holders left for Afghanistan voluntarily, while 186 were deported, adding that out of 1,304 illegal immigrants, 1,192 left voluntarily, while 112 were deported.

Official documents show that since April 1, when repatriation of registered Afghan refugees began after expiry of the deadline, 28,350 refugees have left Pakistan — some 19,492 voluntarily, and 8,858 were deported.

The documents also show that some 521,781 Afghans have left Pakistan since September 2023 — 503,153 voluntarily and 18,628 were deported through several border crossings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the official documents, around 515,062 Afghans left through Torkham, 6,020 through the border crossing in Angoor Adda, 698 through Kharlachi, while one illegal immigrant left Pakistan through the Sost border crossing with China.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025