Pakistan will extend expired registration cards given to almost 1.5 million Afghans for a year, the prime minister said on Wednesday, after the U.N. refugee commissioner asked for a pause in the country's plan to repatriate refugees, Paralel.Az reports citing Reuters.

It was not immediately clear whether the extension of the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards that expired in June would exempt holders from any future deportations, and the Pakistani foreign office said the repatriation plan would continue.

"The cabinet accepted (the proposal) of a one-year extension of the PoR cards of 1.45 million Afghan legal residents that expired on June 30, 2024," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said in a statement.

The cards, which the U.N. describes as a "critical" identity document, would now be valid until June 30, 2025.