ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan said Thursday that thousands of Afghan migrants who have applied for resettlement in third countries could face forced expulsion if they are not relocated by host nations before the end of April.
Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry did not mention specific host countries, but his announcement follows the suspension of U.S. refugee admissions programs that has left over 25,000 Afghan nationals facing uncertainty. Some of the Afghans also are trying to resettle in other Western countries, including the U.K.
Chaudhry said an April 30 deadline for resettlement of applicants has been communicated to potential host countries. He also said that any foreigners in the country illegally would be deported immediately, and that those who have obtained U.N. refugee status would be allowed to stay at least through June.
Many Afghans fled their country after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, fearing reprisals. Some had worked with the U.S. military, international organizations, aid agencies, media outlets or human rights groups.
Thousands already have been relocated to the United States, with those who worked for the U.S. military given a priority by the U.S. government. Thousands more have been living in Pakistan while seeking relocation to the United States or other Western countries.
Chaudhry said thousands of Afghans have been sent back over the past week as part of expulsions that began in October 2023, when Pakistan launched a crackdown on foreigners living illegally in Pakistan. Since then, more than 850,000 Afghans had been repatriated.
He said an estimated 800,000 additional Afghan migrants are in the country illegally, and that 1.4 million are in Pakistan with U.N. refugee status.
Spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a news conference that the expulsions were not targeted specifically at Afghans and that any foreigners in the country illegally were being deported.
He also said Pakistan was engaged with U.N. agencies for the protection of people in vulnerable situations. “There is hardly any example of a country which has been more generous to refugees than Pakistan,” he said.
A laborer loads belongings of Afghan refugees onto the roof of a bus as the refugees prepare to return to Afghanistan, at a terminal in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Exxon Mobil’s first quarter profit slumped to the lowest level in years, stung by weaker crude prices and higher costs.
The oil and gas giant earned $7.71 billion, or $1.76 per share, for the three months ended March 31. It earned $8.22 billion, or $2.06 per share, in the year-ago period.
The results topped Wall Street expectations, but Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $1.74 per share.
Revenue totaled $83.13 billion, which fell short of the $84.15 billion that analysts were calling for.
This week, a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude fell below $60, a level at which many producers can no longer turn a profit.
“In this uncertain market, our shareholders can be confident in knowing that we’re built for this,” Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a statement Friday. “The work we’ve done to transform our company over the past eight years positions us to excel in any environment.”
Crude oil is down nearly 18% for the year to date, according to FactSet.
Oil prices plummeted last month, at one point sinking to a four-year low in anticipation of slowing economic growth due to a burgeoning trade war.
Trump announced far-reaching tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners April 2 and then reversed himself a few days later after a market meltdown, suspending the import taxes for 90 days. Amid the uncertainty for both U.S. consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years.
Rapidly falling oil prices signal pessimism about economic growth and can be a harbinger of a recession as manufacturers cut production, businesses cut travel costs and families rethink vacation plans.
And there appears to be little appetite for turn off the spigots by some of the world's largest producers.
In December eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries signaled they would not cut production as they compete with production from non-allied oil producing countries.
The OPEC+ members decided at the time to postpone production increases that had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The plan had been to start gradually restoring 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of 2025.
That process was pushed back to April 1 and production increases will gradually take place over 18 months until October 2026.
Shares of Exxon Mobil rose slightly before the market open.
FILE - Oil pumps work in the desert oil fields of Sakhir, Bahrain, Sept. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)
