Over 500 Afghans arrested in Pakistan in one week, UN report says

More than 500 Afghan nationals have been arrested from three districts of Pakistan between October 11 and 17, with undocumented Afghans and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders accounting for 97 percent of all arrests and detentions, a joint report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said.

The report recorded 517 arrests in Chagai, Peshawar and Karachi during the week. Across the country, 56 percent of reported arrests and detentions took place in Balochistan, 34 percent in Punjab and 10 percent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Holders of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards accounted for the remaining three percent of arrests and detentions.

The agencies estimated that 3,883 Afghans returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham, Chaman and Bahramcha border crossings during the same period, including 499 deportations.

Returns fell by 10 percent compared with the previous week, October 4 to 10, when 4,295 Afghans returned, including 961 deportations. Deportations declined by 48 percent over the same period, while overall returns recorded a more moderate decrease, the report added.

Of those who returned between October 11 and 17, 83 percent were undocumented Afghans, while ACC holders accounted for 9 percent and PoR holders 8 percent. Most PoR returns took place through voluntary repatriation centres operated by UNHCR.

Among those deported during the week, 99 percent were undocumented Afghans, while the report recorded one percent each for PoR and ACC holders.

The report found that 2,744,068 Afghans had returned to their country from Pakistan between September 15, 2023 and October 17, 2026.

Since April 1, 2025, 1,890,035 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, including 237,387 deportations, which account for 13 percent of the total.

Fear of arrest remained the main reason for leaving Pakistan during the reporting period. The report identified it as the reason for return among 95 percent of undocumented Afghans and ACC holders, compared with 68 percent of PoR holders.

The report also noted that data on arrests and detentions of ACC holders and undocumented Afghans was not collected before 2023. IOM began gathering such data in January 2023.