As many as 2.5 million Afghans living in Pakistan could face deportation when a deadline ends on Wednesday.

At the beginning of the year, Pakistan's government opted to only extend the stay of Afghan refugees in the country by another 30 days, until 31 January.

It was the sixth extension of the validity of Afghans' Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, which allow them to reside legally in Pakistan.

However, unlike previous occasions when their status was assured for a whole year, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi opted for only a month-long extension.

Announcing the shortened time period, Mr Abbasi's government argued Pakistan's economy "has carried the burden of hosting Afghan refugees for a long time and in the present circumstances cannot sustain it further".


As the new deadline approaches, Abdul Qadir Baloch, the minister responsible for Pakistan's tribal areas, used a meeting with US officials to urge Washington to outline a framework for the successful repatriation of Afghan refugees.

He cited his country's complex security and economic problems.

Image: Millions have fled war-torn Afghanistan since the 1980s

Although most Afghan refugees do not believe there is any imminent threat of them being forced out of Pakistan, they feel they are being used as pawns in the ongoing political dispute between the two countries.

Diplomatic relations between Kabul and Islamabad are at a nadir, with both sides accusing each other of providing safe haven to terrorists and not doing enough to stamp out extremist organisations.

Afghanistan has struggled to reintegrate internally displaced persons and does not have the resources to deal with massive numbers returning across the border.

Holding the fate of refugees in the balance is one of Pakistan's few options to contain hostility from Kabul and pressure from Washington.

Since the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s - followed by civil strife, Taliban rule and the US-led "War on Terror" - millions have fled war-torn Afghanistan, with most crossing to neighbouring Pakistan.

They established firm roots in the country, while a whole generation of Afghans have now been born in refugee camps that subsequently grew into small and large townships.

Close family ties between Afghans and Pakistanis complicate the issue, with almost every home in tribal villages along the two countries' border related by intermarriages or ancestry.

The 1,500-mile border, named the Durand line, was drawn by Britain in 1893 and divided ethnic Pashtuns.

In 2016, a repatriation programme for Afghan refugees began but failed. The plan was ill-prepared and refugees were terrified of returning to their violent homeland.

According to Oxfam, in the last two years almost two million Afghans have been internally displaced due to violence across the country.