In a sweep against migrants, Pakistani security forces detain and deport undocumented Afghans

An important step occurred on Wednesday when Pakistani security personnel conducted a broad operation that resulted in the detention and deportation of many Afghans who were living in the nation without the required identification. This is being done since the time set by the government for these people to leave Pakistan has passed.

According to AP, the operation is a component of a larger anti-migrant campaign that is purportedly aimed at all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, but it mostly affects the 2 million or more Afghan nationals who are in Pakistan without proper papers.

Numerous entities, including human rights groups, United Nations agencies, and even the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, have criticized the action. Deportations have begun, as confirmed by Pakistan’s acting Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, who stated, “Today, we said goodbye to 64 Afghan nationals as they began their journey back home.” This move demonstrates Pakistan’s will to return any residents living in the nation without the appropriate papers to their home country.”

Wednesday’s operations took place in places such as Karachi and Rawalpindi, as well as in other parts of the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, which are bordered by Afghanistan. Thousands more Afghans boarded trucks and buses the day before, racing home in an attempt to avoid being arrested and facing compulsory deportation.

control 2 million Afghan people without legal status are thought to be in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom arrived after the Taliban took control in 2021, according to U.N. authorities. Human Rights Watch demanded that Pakistan drop the deadline and work with the UN refugee agency to register Afghan asylum seekers, accusing Pakistan of using “threats, abuse, and detention” to force them back to their own country.

The spokesman for the Taliban administration, Zabihullah Mujahid, responded by expressing worry about the forcible removal of Afghans and highlighting the millions of people who had fled their country as a result of decades of violence. Without mentioning Pakistan, he asked the host nations to stop the forced deportations and adopt tolerance based on neighborly and Islamic values. Mujahid also promised a safe haven in Afghanistan to Afghans who were living in exile because of political unrest.

In the meanwhile, a Taliban team traveled to the Afghan province of eastern Nangarhar in search of answers for the repatriation of Afghans. The authorities are working hard to set up makeshift camps where refugees from Afghanistan who have nowhere to go may stay for a month while they look for permanent homes.

Since the Pakistani Taliban have been using Afghanistan as a safe haven and waging attacks on Pakistani soldiers, ties between Pakistan and the Taliban-led government in that country have deteriorated. After the government’s deadline was announced on October 3, more than 200,000 Afghans have left Pakistan and returned home.

Pakistan has said that the deportations would take place in a “phased and orderly” manner and that the detainees will get compassionate treatment during the operation. On the outskirts of Islamabad, however, officials destroyed a number of Afghan houses in an effort to force the people to flee the nation.

Concerns about this crackdown have also been expressed by thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan who fled the Taliban’s control in Afghanistan and are now waiting to be sent to the United States under a special refugee program.