Amnesty International: Pakistan’s Deportation Plan Threatens Afghan Refugees

Amnesty International: Pakistan’s Deportation Plan Threatens Afghan Refugees 

Amnesty International has strongly condemned Pakistan’s opaque and arbitrary Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan, which threatens to forcibly expel Afghan refugees and asylum seekers—many of whom have fled war, persecution, and tyranny. With a looming March 31 deadline to remove Afghans from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan is violating international human rights law and the principle of non-refoulement.

Despite lacking any legal foundation or transparency, this directive is already uprooting communities, tearing families apart, and placing thousands at risk of persecution in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Afghan refugees, many with legal documents and decades-long residence, are being scapegoated, demonized in media, and harassed under the guise of national security.

This plan has already resulted in mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, and the separation of families who have lived peacefully in Pakistan for decades. Lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists—many awaiting resettlement to third countries—are now cut off from the embassies that were processing their cases, facing the real danger of forced return to Afghanistan where they risk imprisonment, torture, or even death.

Instead of honoring long-standing humanitarian obligations, the Pakistani government is using fear and misinformation to criminalize vulnerable communities. The international community must speak out and pressure Pakistan to halt this unjust campaign, ensure protection for Afghan refugees, and restore legal pathways for asylum and resettlement.

Amnesty International calls on Pakistani authorities to immediately revoke this inhumane plan and act in accordance with international human rights standards. The lives, dignity, and futures of thousands hang in the balance.