Pakistan has extended a deadline to allow tens of thousands of Afghans waiting to be resettled in a third nation to stay in the country for two more months.
Pakistan's Information Minister Murtaza Solangi announced the extension on December 13 after it was approved by the cabinet.
Under the extension, the Afghans can remain in the country until February 29. Previously, they were to leave by the end of December.
"These measures are aimed at encouraging Afghans residing illegally in Pakistan to obtain legal documents or finalize evacuation agreements as soon as possible in a third country," Solangi told journalists.
He said that people overstaying the new deadline would have to pay a monthly fine of $100 up to a maximum of $800.
According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and Pakistani authorities, up to half a million Afghans have returned to their country since Pakistan announced it would deport more than 1.7 million "undocumented foreigners," most of whom are Afghans, in early October.
The announcement of the extension comes days after Thomas West, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, visited Islamabad, where he talked to Pakistani officials about "the need to protect Afghan refugees."
Nearly 20,000 Afghans now living in Pakistan are slotted to be moved to the United States for resettlement.
The extension will also help tens of thousands of Afghans who are awaiting the result of their immigration cases in Western European nations, Canada, and Australia. Most had worked for Western forces or aid groups before international troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Hundreds of the refugees were harassed, and scores were deported back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan as part of Islamabad's crackdown on Afghan refugees.
Last month, Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, linked the expulsion of Afghans to the Taliban government's inability to prevent the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from launching deadly attacks in Pakistan.
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, TTP attacks have escalated dramatically. The Afghan Taliban were long-term allies of Pakistan’s powerful military.
