Pakistan court grants citizenship for Afghans from refugee families

Pakistani court on Thursday ordered the government to give citizenship to Afghans who were born in the country by refugee parents, in a move likely to benefit thousands of people.

Millions of Afghans fled their homeland to seek refuge in neighbouring Pakistan, dating back to the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Thousands of kids were born in Pakistan in these refugee families, but they did not have the nationality of either country.

The Islamabad High Court ordered the country's Interior Ministry to give citizenship to all Afghan refugees who have birth certificates in Pakistan.

The order by Chief Justice Athar Minallah came in response to a petition by a 24-year-old Afghan man who was born in Pakistan but denied citizenship, his lawyer Umer Gilani said.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 2 million Afghan refugees still live in Pakistan, most since 1979.

Pakistan had another influx of Afghan refugees in the 1990s when the Taliban first ruled the country before U.S.-led international forces drove them out following the 9/11 attacks.

At least 300,000 Afghans crossed into Pakistan when the Taliban again rose to power in 2021, most for transit stay before onward journeys to Western countries providing asylum.