LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Monday that the federal government has repatriated 1.1 million illegal Afghan citizens as of April 2025, including 400,000 sent back through the Torkham border.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, he contrasted the federal government’s policy with the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where he claimed illegal Afghan residents were being provided “protection.” He said camps in Peshawar and Nowshera had been officially notified, while those in North and South Waziristan were still functioning.
Naqvi warned that some Afghan nationals had been involved in terrorist activities, citing incidents at Wana Cadet College, the Islamabad Judicial Complex, and the attack on the Peshawar Frontier Corps headquarters, where three attackers were reportedly Afghans.
To strengthen enforcement, Naqvi said Station House Officers (SHOs) across the country had been assigned the responsibility of identifying and sending back illegal Afghan citizens within their jurisdictions.
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“The country comes first. The KP government will have to accept the federal government’s decision,” he said.
The minister added that while Pakistan’s economy was showing signs of recovery, the country could not risk further security threats. He urged illegal Afghan citizens to return voluntarily and “with dignity,” warning that those who re-entered unlawfully would be arrested.
Discussing border and airport controls, Naqvi said between 50 and 60 passengers were offloaded daily at airports, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) would share detailed data with the media. He criticised social media misinformation, claiming 90 per cent of such content was false and driven by coordinated campaigns.
On legitimate travel, Naqvi reassured that Pakistani citizens seeking lawful overseas employment would not face hurdles. He cited the example of a man attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia for a driving job without a valid licence or driving skills, saying the system also needed improvement.