Over 6,500 Afghans are deported by Pakistan, bringing the total number of returned Afghans to 1,70,000: Authorized

 Over 6,500 Afghans are deported by Pakistan, bringing the total number of returned Afghans to 1,70,000: Authorized

Since the government ordered all unregistered foreign nationals to vacate Pakistan by November 1 or face legal action, which would have been done against them, the voluntary withdrawal has been ongoing.

According to border authorities on Monday, more than 6,500 Afghan people departed Pakistan on Sunday via the Torkham border, bringing the total number of Afghans who have been returned to over 1,70,000.

Since the government ordered all unregistered foreign nationals to evacuate Pakistan by November 1 or face legal action, which would have been done against them, the voluntarily conducted evacuation has been ongoing.

According to sources cited in the Dawn newspaper, there have been 1,74,358 Afghan citizens who have had departed for Afghanistan since September 17. While voluntary repatriation is still ongoing, the number is decreasing daily.

Shortly after the deadline passed, a large number of undocumented immigrants were present at the border crossing. According to an official handling the voluntary return of Afghan nationals, it is now falling. 6,584 Afghans, including women as well as children, left Pakistan on Sunday, according to government figures.

Twenty9 deportees, together with 46,936 men, 35,507 women, and 85,331 children, were transported back on Saturday from various jails in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

24 deportees, 40,899 men, 30,399 women, and 76,675 children had been returned on November 2, compared to 148 deportees, 44,718 men, 33,699 women, and 82,221 children, on November 3.

On November 1, some 7,195 families—consisting of 34,639 men, 25,710 women, and 68,280 children—as well as 115 deportees were returned home. According to the official statistics, Afghan nationals who were detained for minor offenses were also being deported in addition to the voluntary repatriation.

Between November 1 and 4, more than 500 inmates from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Islamabad were deported. Official figures indicate that 194 inmates were brought from various areas in Punjab to the border crossing at Torkham in order to be repatriated.

Around 700 Afghan citizens returned on Saturday across the Chaman border as well, as stated by interim Minister of Information Jan Achakzai. Over 54,000 Afghans have made their way home, the minister said on Sunday at a news conference via Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat.

To further persuade Afghan families, officials have also promised to pay for their homecoming in full. International human rights organizations, however, have criticized Pakistan for its decision to deport millions of people who entered the nation illegally.

They claim that after crossing the border into their own country, Afghans who are leaving Pakistan in order to escape being arrested and deported are sleeping outside without access to food, shelter, clean water to drink, or restrooms.

Save the Children's country director, Arshad Malik, said that a large number of children returning lack the necessary educational documentation to continue their schooling and are not fluent in Dari or Pashto, the native languages of Afghanistan, having learned Urdu and English in Pakistan.

Given that the majority of the returning families were among those who are least fortunate migrants in Pakistan, he issued a warning that child labor in Afghanistan and their participation in smuggling are expected to rise owing to poverty. In a letter to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Pakistan (HRCP), Hina Jilani, warned that the country's intention to expulse Afghans would lead to a humanitarian disaster.

The letter stated that the decision amounts to forced repatriation, which is illegal under international customary law. Vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, such as women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, members of low-income groups, and Afghans at risk due to their occupations, will inevitably be impacted. Many of these individuals fled Afghanistan after the Afghan Taliban took throughout the government in August 2021.

Similarly, in a letter to Interiors Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the National Commission on the Current Situation of Women said that there were almost 2.5 million widows in Afghanistan, a portion of whom had fled to Pakistan in search of work.

It said that these women are undocumented because of a variety of uncontrollable conditions. These women include journalists, physicians, software engineers, and others.

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