Islamabad is considering a US government proposal to deport Afghan citizens via Pakistan, its foreign ministry confirmed on Friday, after an American federal court blocked plans to send scores there this week.
“The matter is under consideration as we speak, and all relevant aspects are being carefully examined in consultation with the concerned stakeholders,” foreign ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan said at a regular news conference.
“We are hopeful that a mutually agreeable way forward will be reached,” he added when asked about the reported deportation of scores of Afghans.
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A US federal court on Tuesday blocked to deport Afghan immigrants, which advocacy groups have said could have endangered their lives.
US media reported last week that more than 150 Afghans in the US would be deported via Pakistan to Afghanistan as part of Trump’s latest immigration crackdown.
Among the group were relatives of Afghans who assisted the US military in the country prior to the fall of Kabul, according to AfghanEvac, an advocacy group that helps former Afghan allies.
Pakistan’s government earlier this year ordered law enforcement nationwide to arrest Afghan citizens without visas as part of a years-long repatriation policy that has pushed back millions of Afghans who fled throughout decades of war.
On Monday, Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities voiced “serious concern” over the US deportation plans.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fraught since the Taliban authorities took power and worsened after deadly border clashes last October that led to near-total closure of the border.
Trump’s administration last year issued travel bans for a number of countries, including Afghanistan, as part of a broad immigration crackdown.
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After regaining power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with Western-backed forces and governments and have repeated promises this year that their former foes could safely return home.
But the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.
