Archive · 2 Aug 2026
140,000 Afghan Refugees Deported from Pakistan's Punjab in 2024
Pakistan's Punjab province has sent almost 140,000 Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan because they didn't have legal papers.
A few hundred more are still held in 39 detention centers, waiting to be sent out through the Torkham border.
Over the last three years, Pakistan has deported about 2.7 million undocumented Afghans.
In July, police in the city of Charsadda arrested 40 Afghans and moved 133 of them to a holding center in Peshawar.
The Interior Ministry ordered that any Afghan without a valid visa be arrested from July 10, 2024.
This follows a 2023 policy that cancelled many Afghan residence permits.
The goal is to enforce the law and keep only those with proper documents in the country.
The deportations are part of a broader crackdown on illegal foreign citizens in Pakistan.
The Torkham crossing is the main route for these deportations.
Pakistan's Punjab province deported 139,902 Afghan nationals to Afghanistan.
248 Afghan migrants remain in 39 detention centers awaiting deportation via Torkham.
Pakistan has deported about 2.66 million undocumented Afghan migrants in the past three years.
July 2024 crackdown in Charsadda saw 40 Afghan nationals detained, with 133 transferred to Peshawar holding center.
Interior Ministry ordered arrests of undocumented Afghans from July 10, 2024, following policy to rescind residence permits.
- Who
- Afghan nationals and Pakistani authorities
- What
- Deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants
- When
- June–July 2024
- Where
- Punjab province, Pakistan, and Torkham border crossing
- Why
- Pakistan's campaign to remove foreign nationals without legal residency
- Total deported
- 139,902 Afghan nationals
- Remaining in detention
- 248 migrants
- Detention centers
- 39
- Border crossing
- Torkham
- Interior Ministry order date
- July 10, 2024
- Deportations in 3 years
- 2.66 million
- Province
- Punjab
- City crackdown
- Charsadda