Publication

INTEGRATED APPEAL FOR AFGHAN RETURNEES FROM PAKISTAN (BORDER RESPONSE AND REINTEGRATION RESPONSE IN AREAS OF RETURN)

02 May 2024

The Government of Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan – I” (IFRP-I) that came into effect on November 01, 2023, resulted in a mass return, both voluntary and forced, and deportations of predominantly undocumented Afghans living in Pakistan to their home country. From September 15, 2023, to April 15, 2024, more than 553,000 Afghans returned to their country of origin, including 447,000 undocumented individuals, 11,000 Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, and 83,000 Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders, along with other documented Afghans such as asylum seekers or slip holders, issued by UNHCR and its partners in Pakistan. On March 18, 2024, the Government of Pakistan announced the intention to launch a second phase of the IFRP (IFRP-II), to commence on April 15, 2024, targeting the repatriation of the remaining undocumented and documented Afghans, including ACC holders and those registered with UNHCR and its partners in Pakistan. This announcement was made despite concerns from legal experts’ over possible violations of the decree of non-refoulement principles under international law. The UN estimates project another 901,000 Afghans will return to Afghanistan between April 16 to December 31, 2024. However, on April 26, 2024, the Government of Pakistan extended the validity of 1.3 million PoR cards for Afghan refugees living in Pakistan up to June 30. Given the pattern of large-scale systematic human rights violations and discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan, the impact on women and girls deported back to Afghanistan could be severe. To help alleviate the impact of the forced returns, the United Nations and partner NGOs in Afghanistan are launching this Integrated Appeal to respond to emergency needs of returnees at border crossing points (Border Response) as well as recovery interventions in the priority Areas of Return (AoR) to meet the medium- to long-term needs of returnees and host communities (Reintegration Response), using a joined-up nexus approach between the humanitarian and durable solutions efforts.