Islamabad,Ā Apr 10: Pakistan has deported over 8,000 Afghan refugees as part of a nationwide drive to expel Afghans from the country after a deadline for their voluntary return expired last week, officials said on Wednesday.The crackdown was launched after the deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders ended on March 31, intensifying the ongoing drive to expel illegal aliens, which was launched in September 2023.
Official sources said that since April 1, approximately 8,115 Afghan refugees have been sent back to Afghanistan via the Torkham border crossing.
āThey were arrested from different areas, mostly in Punjab, and handed over to Afghan authorities,ā they said.
The most active operation is underway in Punjab province, where hundreds of Afghan refugees are arrested daily and brought to various centres, from where, after regular verification, they are sent back via Torkham, they said.
The Punjab government announced that it detained over 5,000 Afghan nationals from different parts of the province to deport them to their home country.
An official said the security agencies have identified 100,000 Afghans living illegally in Punjab, which will be traced and deported in days to come but the Afghans with valid legal documents will not be deported.
There are also reports that hundreds of Afghan nationals have been rounded up in Sindh province and deported.
It was the second phase of deportation targeting ACC holders after the first phase began in September 2023 to expel the illegal aliens.
Under the first phase, a total of 70,494 Afghan families, representing 469,159 individuals, return to their homeland through Torkham. However, the total number of Afghans returned under the first phase through different border points was more than 800,000.
Meanwhile, a countrywide police crackdown continues, targeting Afghan nationals residing illegally in the country. The authorities were focusing on those without Proof of Residence (PoR) cards and those with expired Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC).
The Afghans began to arrive in Pakistan in the 1980s due to the deteriorating security situation in the wake of the invasion by the forces of the former USSR.