In Photos: Afghan Refugees Leave Pak as Islamabad Orders Migrants To Move Out

Several human rights bodies have criticised Pakistan's decision to deport Afghan migrants from the country.

The government had given illegal migrants the deadline of October 31 to leave, following which they would face arrest and expulsion.

(Photo: PTI)

More than 6,500 Afghan nationals left Pakistan through the Torkham border on 5 November, taking the total number of repatriated Afghans to more than 1,70,000, border officials said on 6 November.

The evacuation process has been ongoing since the government gave an ultimatum to all unregistered foreign nationals to leave Pakistan by 1 November after which action would be taken against them. 

A total of 1,74,358 Afghan nationals have left for Afghanistan since 17 September. Voluntary repatriation is still underway, but the numbers have been dropping with each passing day, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting officials.

According to official data, 6,584 Afghans, including women and children, exited Pakistan on 5 November.

Addressing a press conference along with Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat on Sunday, the minister said that more than 54,000 Afghans have returned to their homeland.

However, international human rights bodies have criticised Pakistan's move to deport millions of illegal migrants from the country.

They have said that Afghans fleeing Pakistan to avoid arrest and deportation have been sleeping in the open, without proper shelter, food, drinking water and toilets once they cross the border to their homeland.

The Taliban government is not happy with Islamabad and several leaders, including the interim prime minister and defence and interior ministers, have publicly criticised Pakistan for evicting thousands of Afghans.

Pakistan stressed that its decision was taken only to send back those having no legal documents. However, the Taliban continues to accuse Islamabad of harassing the refugees, according to The Express Tribune.

According to media reports, the Pakistan government has accused Afghan migrants of involvement in terror attacks, street crimes, and organised crimes such as drug trafficking.

“We’ve just had the earthquake, which is impacting heavily on the situation in Afghanistan, and on top of that, winter is approaching so it’s not the best season to have people going back to a country that is already in a very fragile situation,” Philippa Candler, UNHCR representative in Pakistan, was quoted as saying by BBC.

The border between Peshawar in Pakistan and Jalalabad in Afghanistan usually closes by sunset. Reuters quoted a government official as saying that 1,28,000 Afghans had left through the Torkham crossing since the Pakistani government’s order. Others are crossing through Chaman in Balochistan.