Pakistan’s Deputy Minister of the Interior Ministry, Talal Chaudhry, says a new deadline will not be granted for Afghan refugees to leave the country. He stated that the process of returning undocumented migrants to Afghanistan is ongoing and that no new extension for their expulsion will be considered.

According to him, over 800,000 Afghan migrants—some of whom even held ACC cards have been deported so far.

“Those who only have the “ACC” cards or any other type of card are being sent back to their country. Since October 30, 2023, more than 800,000 people have been deported, and in the past few days alone, 11,000 individuals with ACC cards were returned to Afghanistan. This process will continue. As for asylum seekers being transferred to other countries, they have until the end of April this year—a deadline which will not be extended,” he added.

Meanwhile, Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, during a meeting with Robert Chatterton Dickson, the British chargé d’affaires for Afghanistan, stated that Pakistan has intensified the forced deportation of migrants in violation of international laws and norms.

He emphasized that addressing the situation of these migrants requires increased support from the international community.

In this meeting, Dickson also said that the UK has added more than seven million pounds to its humanitarian aid to provide additional support for the Afghan migrants.

An Iranian economic delegation has visited Afghanistan’s bordering province of Herat and held talks with local officials about expanding trade with the country.

The delegation is headed by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Rasoul Mohajir, and comprises Deputy Minister of Planning and Resource Management of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Governor of South Khorasan Province.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul said the delegation visited the Khaf-Herat railway and the industrial township of Herat, met with the provincial governor and a group of businessmen and discussed the expansion of trade between the two countries.

After Herat, the delegation will also visit Farah province to discuss ways to develop bilateral cooperation and facilitate the transportation of goods between Iran and Afghanistan.

South Korea and Syria have signed an agreement in Damascus establishing diplomatic relations, the South Korean foreign ministry said on Friday, opening new ties with a traditional ally of its rival North Korea.

The event marks a milestone for South Korea now having established diplomatic ties with all 191 U.N. member states and opening “a new chapter for bilateral cooperation with Syria, which had long remained distant due to its close ties with North Korea,” the South Korean foreign ministry said, Reuters reported.

South Korea established diplomatic relations with Cuba last year, another old ally of the North.

North Korea’s state media ceased mentions of Syria since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December except leader Kim Jong Un once referring to “the Middle East crisis” in passing.

A joint communique was signed by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Syria’s Asaad al-Shibani on Thursday, and Cho expressed willingness to share South Korea’s development experience to support Syria’s reconstruction, the ministry said.

Cho later met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, it said.