The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates of the Taliban has announced that 63 Afghan citizens have been released from prisons in Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan.
According to a statement released by the ministry on Thursday, February 13, these individuals include four Afghan migrant families, comprising 15 members and 48 other individuals.
The statement adds that these individuals were detained in various Pakistani cities for lacking legal documentation and were held in prison for between 2 to 6 days.
After receiving humanitarian aid, these individuals were transferred to their original locations in Afghanistan.
In the past ten days, this marks the third time the ministry has announced the release of dozens of Afghan migrants from Pakistani prisons. Previously, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates reported that, on February 1, at least 91 Afghan citizens, including women and children, were freed from Pakistani prisons.
The return of these migrants highlights ongoing challenges faced by Afghan nationals living in Pakistan without proper legal status, with continued deportations affecting their livelihoods and well-being.
The detaining and imprisonment of Afghan migrants in Pakistan intensified after the Pakistani government set a deadline for illegal migrants, including Afghans, to leave the country by November 1, 2023.
According to a recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in January 2025, 18,300 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan, with around 1,000 of them being forcibly deported.
In recent months, the Pakistani police have repeatedly deported Afghan migrants from the country. Widespread expulsions of Afghan migrants, especially those without legal documents, have caused significant problems for them in Pakistan.
