the digitization process through the establishment of a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and National Alien Registration Authority (NARA) in 2000, Bengalis were registered as aliens.34 Many Bengalis with valid Pakistani ID cards and passports were forcibly issued NARA cards with their citizenship effectively stripped since 2002.35 Afghan Refugees 16. By the end of 1988, UNHCR estimated that four to five million Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan.36 After the end of the Taliban regime in 2001, more than 1.5 million refugees returned to Afghanistan in 2002 with more refugees going back in the following years as well.37 With Taliban’s return to power, 117,550 new arrivals have come from Afghanistan to Pakistan between January 2021 and June 2022.38 17. In 2020, Pakistan Today reported that there are many second, third and fourth generation Afghan children and youth living in Pakistan who were born and raised in Pakistan, while denied legal status in the country.39 In addition to the registered refugees with a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, the Afghans living in Pakistan can be divided into three categories – Afghan Citizens Cards (ACC) holders, undocumented Afghans and visa holders.40 The undocumented Afghans who do not have any Pakistani or Afghan legal identity documents are at risk of statelessness. 18. As of January 2022, UNHCR reported that there are approximately three million Afghans living in Pakistan, 1.4 million of them have PoR cards, around 840,000 have an ACC, and 775,000 of them are estimated to be undocumented.41 The Pakistani Ministry of States and Frontiers Regions (SAFRON) estimates the number of undocumented Afghans in the country to be between 300,000 to 400,000.42 The Pakistani Society for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid (SHARP) states that there is no authentic data available on the Afghan refugee population in Pakistan, with certain reports claiming that there are more than three million Afghans residing in Karachi alone.43 34 Ibid. Ibid. 36 Ibid. 37 ‘Pakistan’s Afghan Refugees: A Timeline,’ The Express Tribune, (Online, 4 October 2016), <http://tribune.com.pk/story/1193771/pakistans-afghan-refugees-timeline> accessed July 13, 2022. 38 European Union Agency for Asylum, ‘Pakistan, Situation of Afghan Refugees: Country of Origin Information Report’ (LU: Publications Office, 2022), [Available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2847/613763] accessed July 13, 2022. 39 Muhsen Ali, ‘Top UN Official Due Today, as Afghan Refugees’ Stay Nears End,’ Pakistan Today, (Online, 6 September 2018) <https://archive.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/09/06/top-un-official-due-today-as-afghanrefugees-stay-nears-end/>, accessed July 5, 2022. 40 European Union Agency for Asylum, ‘Pakistan, Situation of Afghan Refugees: Country of Origin Information Report’ (LU: Publications Office, 2022), [Available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2847/613763] accessed July 13, 2022. 41 UNHCR, ‘Afghanistan Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan 2022,’ (Report, 12 January 2022) [Available at <https://reliefweb.int/attachments/c467e2f1-12cd-3e78-ba82-d37a020110f9/EN.pdf>] accessed July 13, 2022. 42 Arshad Yusufzai, ‘The Refugee Question,’ The News, (Online, 1 August 2021), <https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/870855-the-refugee-question>, accessed July 5, 2022. 43 European Union Agency for Asylum, ‘Pakistan, Situation of Afghan Refugees: Country of Origin Information Report’ (LU: Publications Office, 2022), [Available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2847/613763] accessed July 13, 2022. 35 6