ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani federal government has extended the stay of registered Afghan immigrants for six more months. This decision was approved by the federal cabinet.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior proposed this extension for the Proof of Registration (POR) card, applying to both registered Afghan immigrants and their family members. The extension is in effect from July 1, 2023, until December 31, 2023.
Before this extension, the registration cards for over 1.3 million registered Afghan immigrants had expired on June 30.
However, over one million undocumented Afghan nationals are living in Pakistan, having entered the country illegally in the last five years, with about 30 percent coming in the last two years after the Taliban’s rise in Kabul.
The total number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 2023 is over four million, including 1.3 million registered refugees, one million undocumented individuals, and 1.7 million undergoing identity verification. Many undocumented Afghans are involved in small-scale businesses in various regions.
