Thousands of Afghan citizens face visa cancellation, deportation in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Zubair Kasuri): A crackdown on both legal and illegal Afghan citizens residing in Pakistan is underway. Sources indicate that a law enforcement agency has cancelled the security clearances of thousands of Afghan individuals, leading to the revocation of their visas.

Reportedly, Afghan citizens who have been living in Pakistan for several years were obtaining visa extensions under various categories. However, a security agency has now cancelled the security clearance for all categories of visa extensions.

This action has left thousands of Afghan citizens in dire straits, as they have now been deprived of their visas.
Sources further reveal that numerous individuals whose visas have been cancelled are being arrested and deported.

This development comes despite the Pakistani embassy in Kabul issuing six-month and one-year visas to Afghan citizens, with the number of visas issued exceeding 700,000 over the past three years.

However, a concerning statistic is that only around 50,000 of these over 700,000 individuals applied for legal visa extensions upon their arrival in Pakistan. Among these applicants, the security clearances of thousands have also been cancelled.

Furthermore, over 650,000 Afghan citizens have yet to contact the government to pursue visa extensions, and these individuals have reportedly gone into hiding in various parts of Pakistan.

This situation has raised serious questions about the future of Afghan citizens currently present in the country.