Citizens without valid documents must leave Pakistan by October 31 or face arrest and forced deportation.
Pakistani authorities have announced plans to deport all “illegal migrants,” including 1.7 million citizens of neighboring Afghanistan. This was reported by The Guardian newspaper in connection with the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
So, citizens without valid documents must leave the country before October 31, otherwise they will be arrested and forcibly deported.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, emphasized that this policy is directed against all refugees, and not only against Afghans, who entered the country in large numbers during the invasion of USSR troops and the rising power of the Taliban.
“We have generously hosted Afghan refugees for the last four decades. Those 1.4 million Afghan citizens who are registered as refugees in Pakistan need not worry,” he assured.
Amnesty International asked Pakistan to allow Afghans to continue living in the country, and a representative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the policy.
About 1.3 million Afghans are registered as refugees, and another 880,000 have received legal status to stay, according to the UN. Pakistan received many Afghan refugees, especially when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
A few days ago, Afghan officials said local authorities had begun detaining Afghans, both illegal immigrants and those with the right to remain in the country. The Afghan Embassy said in a statement that more than 1,000 Afghans have been detained in the past two weeks. Meanwhile, some Afghans began to prepare to leave Pakistan on their own.
It was previously known that drug production has increased in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban came to power, the amount of Afghan drug trafficking in neighboring Tajikistan has continued to increase.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.