Nearly 140,000 Afghan refugees deported to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s Punjab: Report

Kabul: Nearly 140,000 undocumented Afghan migrants have been deported to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s Punjab province as part of its campaign against foreign nationals who do not have legal residency documents, local media reported, citing provincial authorities.

Punjab’s Home Department said that 139,902 Afghan nationals had been arrested and deported to Afghanistan after legal formalities were completed. The department said 248 Afghan migrants were kept in 39 detention centres and are expected to be deported through the Torkham border crossing after completing formalities, Afghanistan-based news agency Khaama Press reported.

Afghans have been deported from Pakistan as part of its expulsion campaign against Afghan migrants. In recent weeks, the campaign has intensified, with Afghan migrants in Pakistan facing challenges in renewing visas and maintaining legal status, Khaama Press reported. Pakistan said it has deported around 2.66 million undocumented Afghan migrants to Afghanistan during the past three years.

In July, Pakistan Police detained 40 undocumented Afghan nationals during the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreign citizens in Charsadda city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Charsadda Deputy Commissioner Azmatullah Wazir said that detained Afghan nationals were shifted from the city police station to the Peshawar holding centre. He said the detained people would undergo legal and administrative formalities before being deported through the Torkham border crossing, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.

Wazir said the district administration in coordination with the police and other law enforcement agencies would continue action against foreign nationals who do not have legal documents in Charsadda district.

District Police Officer (DPO) Rifatullah Khan said that the total number of undocumented Afghan nationals who have been shifted from Charsadda to the holding centre in Peshawar had reached 133, Dawn reported. According to the officials, the action was taken as per the federal government’s policy about foreign nationals living in Pakistan without legal documents.

On June 28, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior ordered the immediate arrest of any Afghan national found living in the country without a valid visa from July 10.

The deportation initiative launched by Pakistan in 2023 was renewed in April last year when the government rescinded hun­dreds of thousands of residence permits for Afghans and warned them of arrests if they did not leave willingly.

IANS