Introduction Pakistan’s legal framework recognizes only two distinct and broad categories of individuals concerning their relationship with the state: citizens and foreign nationals. It does not contain an adequate legal protection framework for refugees, despite Pakistan being amongst the largest hosts of Afghan refugees for almost half a century, nor does it contemplate a scenario where an individual lacks citizenship of any country and is therefore stateless. This legislative review examines key provisions of two legislations: the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 and The Foreigners Act 1946. These two Acts govern citizens and foreigners respectively, and constitute largely as the current legal framework applicable to both groups. Refugees are not recognized as a distinct group from foreigners or possible citizens (through an applicable pathway to citizenship)1 under national law. The review seeks to assess current gaps in the legal framework and its application pertaining to protection of refugees and citizenship rights, in light of Pakistan constitutional and international human rights obligations. Foreigners vs citizens: Implications Section 2 of the Foreigners Act 1946 (the Foreigners Act) defines a foreigner as an individual who is not recognized as a citizen of Pakistan. Therefore, according to this statutory definition, any person lacking citizenship in Pakistan is categorized as a foreigner under the provisions of this Act. This distinction between citizens and foreigners is of paramount importance, as Chapter 1 of the Constitution of Pakistan assigns different fundamental rights to each category. While citizens enjoy all the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, foreigners are entitled only to those rights specifically granted to them, as ‘persons’, within the Constitution. Articles 9 – 14 of the Constitution 1 Pakistan is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and there is no national legislation for the protection of refugees or determination of refugee status in the country. 1