Thousands of Afghans are rushing back to their home country as part of a sped-up repatriation process, with only two days left until the October 31 deadline.
Tuesday is the last day for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, and government officials have confirmed that they will stick to their plan and not extend the deadline for voluntary repatriation.
This applies to all undocumented foreign nationals, including Afghan refugees, who are expected to return to their home countries.
To ensure compliance, law enforcement agencies have completed the geo-fencing and geo-mapping of undocumented residents.
Once the deadline has passed, authorities will take action against those found to be living in the country illegally, including confiscating all of their movable and immovable assets.
Over 86,000 undocumented Afghan nationals have so far returned to their country while one-hundred and forty-nine families returned to Afghanistan in one-hundred and seventy-four trucks during the last twenty-four hours.
A total of 33,555 illegal immigrants have returned to their home country through the Torkham border between October 1-23. Among these were 2,772 Afghan families, comprising 8,309 men, 5,457 women, and 19,789 children.
The return of Afghan nationals began after the government had instructed all unregistered immigrants to voluntarily repatriate by October 31, 2023, prompting the initiation of this repatriation process through the Torkham border.
It is pertinent to note that the government later clarified that the campaign was not aimed at a particular nationality.
UN agencies said on Friday there were more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Earlier, a senior government official, while requesting anonymity, had told The Express Tribune that Pakistan will not show any flexibility in its decision seeking the deportation of all foreigners living in the country illegally despite pressure being exerted by certain countries to review the move.
“We are sticking to our decision. There will not be any flexibility. All foreigners living in the country illegally will have to adhere to the October 31 deadline,” he said.
