Pakistan starts mass deportation of undocumented Afghans, Taliban asks for more time

Pakistan Wednesday launched a crackdown on undocumented foreigners, mainly Afghans, across the country, deporting thousands to neighboring Afghanistan as the deadline for them to leave the country ended the previous day.

64 Afghan nationals arrested by Islamabad police during the last few days were deported to Afghanistan on Wednesday morning.

Pakistani Government is determined to repatriate any individuals residing in the country without proper documentation, interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on X.

Later in the day, some 5,000 Afghan refugees left for Afghanistan via southwestern Chaman crossing, which borders southern Kandahar province, while another 3,000 are kept at a “holding center” near the border, Deputy Commissioner of Chaman Raja Athar Abbas told reporters.

Since Oct. 1, Abbas added, a total of 37,000 undocumented Afghan refugees have left for their homeland via the Chaman crossing. More than 130,000 people have left Pakistan since the order was given at the start of October,

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has urged Pakistan to give undocumented Afghans in the country more time to leave as pressure mounts at border posts where thousands of returnees have gathered, fleeing the threat of deportation.

In a statement late on Tuesday, they “asked them to not forcibly deport Afghans with little notice but to give them time to prepare”.