Only 13 lakh 30 thousand are registered while 7 lakh 75 thousand are living without registration. Photo: AFP
Islamabad: Pakistan continues to be one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world, bringing the number of Afghan nationals living in the country to 3.7 million.
For more than 40 years, numerous illegal Afghan citizens have been trafficked in Pakistan.
According to the data of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees up to June 2023, the total number of Afghan citizens living in Pakistan is 3.7 lakh, of which only 1.3 lakh 30 thousand are registered while 7 lakh 75 thousand are living without registration. Similarly, 68.8 percent of Afghans live in urban or semi-urban areas of Pakistan, while 31.2 percent live in 54 different areas.
According to statistics up to June 2023, the total number of illegal Afghan citizens living in Pakistan is 4229,749, of which 71,358 (52.6 percent) are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,21,677 (24.1 percent) from Balochistan, 1,91,53 (14.3 percent) percent) in Punjab, 73,789 (5.5 percent) in Sindh, 41,520 (3.1 percent) in Islamabad and 4,352 (0.3 percent) in Azad Kashmir.
So far, 6 lakh new Afghan refugees have entered Pakistan.
If we take a look at the past experience, we know that Pakistan suffered a lot by giving Afghan citizens a place to live in Pakistan.
Illegal Afghan nationals have made major silent changes in the economic structure of our country, notably by expanding their business by expanding various products from foreign countries into Pakistan’s markets and not paying taxes.
Apart from this, illegal Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan are involved in smuggling of drugs and other illegal goods under the guise of transit trade.
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