Pakistan hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Afghans comprise the significant majority of persons seeking protection in Pakistan; the number of registered Afghan refugees – persons in possession of a Proof of Registration (PoR) – has fluctuated between one and two million since 2003. Numbers are shaped by regional developments, such as the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, which led to an estimated 600,000 Afghan refugees fleeing to Pakistan. In addition to registered refugees, a significant number of Afghans with other legal statuses live in Pakistan; UNHCR counts 800,700 Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders and 143,900 unregistered members of registered families as of April 2025.

In January 2025, the Government of Pakistan announced plans to deport Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan, including ACC holders, refugees registered with UNHCR, and those who fled Pakistan following the Taliban takeover. Despite UNHCR and other organisations appealing to Pakistan to halt what is called the ‘Foreigners Repatriation Program’, the plan was confirmed on 31 July. The data on deported Afghans per month is collected by UNHCR here.

Pakistan is not party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights, and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive. Accordingly, Pakistan is not party to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which expands the Convention to apply and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution. Pakistan is also neither party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons – which establishes a framework for the international protection of stateless persons – nor party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which sets rules for the conferral and non-withdrawal of citizenship to prevent cases of statelessness from arising.

While Pakistan is not party to several key international refugee protection instruments, Pakistan is obligated to respect the international customary legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits any country from deporting any person to a country where they face the threat of persecution.

Pakistan has ratified several other international legal instruments that also relate to treatment of refugees, including the:

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which sets out protections for a wide range of human rights, including freedom from torture and other cruel or unusual punishment, fair trial rights, equality, and non-discrimination;

• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which requires signatories to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture;

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which obliges signatories to take action to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination;

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights to education, fair and just working conditions, adequate standards of living, social security, and the highest attainable standard of health;

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which protects children’s rights and obliges public bodies to consider children’s best interests; and

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which seeks to eliminate disability discrimination and safeguard the rights of disabled people. 

Pakistan lacks a national legal framework for the protection of refugees, and it has not enacted any law establishing eligibility criteria for people seeking asylum in Pakistan or governing the assessment of refugee status. 

In the absence of a national refugee legal framework, UNHCR conducts refugee status determination (RSD) under its mandate and on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, in accordance with the 1993 Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Pakistan and UNHCR. Accordingly, Pakistan allows both asylum seekers who are still undergoing the procedure and recognised refugees to remain in Pakistan (pending a durable solution).

As a result of the lack of a national refugee legal framework, refugees in Pakistan often struggle to access education, healthcare, and employment, and many refugees are forced to participate in the informal labour force with minimal to no legal protection due to their uncertain legal status and fear of deportation.