The Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Programme, introduced in September 2023, is a necessary state initiative meant to ensure the phased and orderly return of all undocumented foreign residents. Beginning with voluntary departures and moving, when required, to enforced repatriation, the programme is not directed at any particular nationality. Rather, it is a sovereign responsibility essential for national planning, equitable resource allocation and the protection of citizens’ rights.
By April 2025, the Ministry of Interior reported that more than 1.1 million undocumented individuals had returned to their countries of origin. At Torkham alone, 469,929 Afghan nationals crossed back between September 2023 and March 2025, with a further 425,496 leaving since April 1. Yet, despite these large numbers, a striking gap persists: departures from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain disproportionately low.
This disparity has revived concerns about the province’s handling of a federal directive that requires cooperation from all tiers of government. What ought to have been a unified national undertaking has instead highlighted signs of hesitation in KP’s administrative and political leadership. The constitutional position is clear. While migration and foreign affairs fall within the federal domain, provinces are responsible for carrying out federal decisions within their jurisdictions. KP’s limited progress, therefore, raises an uncomfortable but unavoidable question: why has the province not met its obligations?
A closer look deepens these concerns. The overwhelming majority of those crossing through Torkham are not individuals who had been residing in KP, despite the province hosting one of the largest concentrations of Afghans in the country, including many without valid documentation. In April 2025, KP authorities repatriated only 153 individuals, a figure wholly misaligned with the scale of the undocumented population living there. Public statements by former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur opposing the federal policy have only added to perceptions that political considerations may be impeding administrative action.
The province’s unique demographic burden also has security dimensions that cannot be ignored. Various investigations and security briefings over the years have identified instances where Afghan nationals were involved in unlawful or violent activity. International agencies have raised similar concerns. Equally troubling are long-standing estimates suggesting that a significant number of Afghans may have obtained Pakistani identity documents fraudulently, with many such cases emerging from KP. These developments point to deep administrative weaknesses that require urgent correction.
The situation in refugee camps is no less serious. Although many facilities have been formally de-notified, more than 353,000 Afghans continue to live in settlements across the province, receiving utilities and public services intended for citizens. At a time when KP’s fiscal capacity is already strained, such diversion of limited resources is neither sustainable nor fair to local communities.
The path forward is clear. KP must bring its implementation of the repatriation programme in line with federal policy and do so with transparency and administrative discipline. The province’s security, social cohesion and economic stability depend on consistent and lawful governance, not political signalling or bureaucratic hesitation. *