Pakistan Deputy PM, UNHCR chief discuss Afghan refugee crisis, attacks on Islamabad’s missions abroad

Afghan refugees walk near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on November 7, 2023, following Pakistan's government decision to expel people illegally staying in the country. (AFP/File)

• People carrying Afghanistan flags attacked Pakistan’s Frankfurt consulate last weekend
• Over 650,000 Afghans deported since last year when Pakistan launched expulsion drive

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held discussions with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi, state-media reported on Friday, with a focus on cooperating on the issue of Afghan refugees and recent attacks on Islamabad’s missions abroad allegedly by members of the Afghan diaspora.
Last weekend, a large crowd of people carrying Afghanistan’s flags trespassed the fence into the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt and took down the Pakistan national flag hoisted atop the building, according to videos posted on social media. The attackers, who Pakistani media and some officials alleged were Afghan nationals, also pelted stones during the attack. 
“The recent attacks and violent demonstrations by Afghani diaspora against Pakistan’s Diplomatic Missions in Frankfurt, London and Brussels also came under discussion,” Radio Pakistan said about Dar’s call with Grandi. 
The two officials also “agreed to continue to work together to advance Pakistan-UNHCR cooperation and find a lasting solution to the issue of Afghan refugees.”
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have soured since last year when Islamabad launched a deportation drive against illegal foreigners. Over 650,000 Afghans have been repatriated to their home country since.
The expulsion drive was launched after a spike in suicide bombings that Islamabad — without providing evidence — says mostly involved Afghans. Pakistan has also blamed them for smuggling and other militant violence and crime. At the time, cash-strapped Pakistan, navigating record inflation and a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program, also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.
Phase one of the ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’ put 1.4 million so-called “undocumented” Afghan refugees at risk. In phase two, around 600,00 Afghans who hold Pakistan-issued Afghan citizenship cards (ACCs) will be expelled while phase three is expected to target those with UNHCR-issued PoR cards. Last month Pakistan extended the deadline of PoR cards by a year following a request by Grandi. 
Until November last year before it began the deportation drive, Pakistan was home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom were undocumented. Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Islamabad insists the deportation drive is not aimed specifically at Afghans but all those living illegally in Pakistan, but the campaign has disproportionately targeted Afghan nationals.