PESHAWAR (Pakistan): Hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan faced detention and deportation on Wednesday, as a government deadline for them to leave sparked a mass exodus.
Islamabad has given 1.7 million Afghans it says are living illegally in the country until November 1 to leave voluntarily or be forcibly removed.
Thousands joined a snaking queue that stretched seven kilometres at the busiest border point, with officials reporting at least 29,000 people crossed into Afghanistan the day before.
“Since November 1, the process of arrest and subsequent deportation of illegal foreigners has begun.
However, the voluntary return of illegal foreigners will also continue and be encouraged,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
It said more than 140,000 people have left Pakistan since the start of October when the order was issued by an unelected caretaker government ahead of elections due in January.
Forty-nine holding centres, some capable of holding several thousand people, opened across the country on Wednesday to process and deport Afghans, state media said.
Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan in recent decades, fleeing a series of violent conflicts, including an estimated 600,000 since the Taliban government seized power in August 2021 and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Pakistan has said the deportations are to protect its “welfare and security” after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan.
The United States called on Pakistan to let through Afghans who are seeking asylum. Authorities on the Afghan side of the border have been overwhelmed by the scale of the exodus as they attempt to process those returning — some of whom are setting foot in Afghanistan for the first time in their lives.
The Taliban government has urged Pakistan to give undocumented Afghans in the country more time to leave as pressure mounts at border posts. – AFP
