Afghans in Pakistan
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (c. 1.3 million registered Afghans according to UNCHR c. 1.7 million registered and non-registered Afghans according to Pakistani officials 1% of Pakistan's population (2016)) |
|
| Languages | |
| Pashto · Dari · Hazaragi · Urdu · English(Pakistani English) · other languages | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afghan diaspora |
Afghans in Pakistan (Urdu: افغان مهاجرين , Afghan Muhajreen) are immigrants, mostly refugees, who have fled major wars in Afghanistan. Most of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still considered citizens of Afghanistan. They are under the protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and have been given legal status in Pakistan until the end of 2017. In addition to refugees, there is a small number of Afghan asylum seekers, migrant workers, merchants, businesspersons, and to some extent exchange students and diplomats.
The first wave of Afghan refugees to Pakistan began during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the late 1970s. By the end of 2001, there were over 4 million of them in Pakistan. Most of them repatriated to Afghanistan since 2002. The UNHCR reported in February 2017 that approximately 1.3 million registered Afghan citizens remained in Pakistan, with distribution as follows: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (81%); Punjab (10%); Balochistan (7%); and Sindh (1%).
The overwhelming majority of these Afghans were actually born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still considered citizens of Afghanistan. They include mostly Afghanistan's Pashtuns followed by Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Baloch, Turkmen and others. As of March 2012, Pakistan has banned extension of visas to all foreigners.
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