Pakistan Plans to Expel Over a Million Illegal Migrants After November 1
Pakistan has issued a notice to all undocumented immigrants, including approximately 1.7 million Afghans, to voluntarily leave the country by November 1 or face deportation. The Interior Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, stated that Pakistan is determined to remove all illegal immigrants from the country, citing the claim that 14 out of 24 suicide bombings this year were carried out by Afghan nationals. Bugti also emphasized that there will be no extension to the deadline and action will be taken against anyone aiding or hiding the immigrants.
Bugti stated, “All the illegal immigrants have been identified. The state has complete data. I want to appeal one more time that all the illegal immigrants should leave voluntarily by the deadline.”
Pakistan is home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, with an estimated 1.7 million being undocumented, according to Reuters. Many Afghans migrated to Pakistan after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, while others have been residing in the country since the Soviet invasion in 1979.
The Pakistani government has accused the undocumented migrants of draining the country’s resources for decades, particularly during a period of record inflation and a challenging International Monetary Fund bailout program. Islamabad has also claimed that Afghan nationals were responsible for numerous bombings in the country this year.
“We are attacked from within Afghanistan, and Afghan nationals are involved in attacks on us,” Bugti stated in a news conference. “We have evidence. If they do not go, then all the law enforcement agencies in the provinces or federal government will be utilized to deport them.”
Authorities have assured that illegal immigrants who voluntarily leave the country will receive assistance. However, those found in the country illegally after the deadline will be arrested. Pakistan has clarified that its focus is solely on individuals who are in the country illegally, regardless of their nationality, and that the 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees need not be concerned.
Pakistan’s crackdown on immigrants has been condemned by several diplomats and representatives. Afghanistan has labeled Pakistan’s actions as “harassment.” The Afghan embassy in Islamabad stated that over 1,000 Afghans have been detained in the past two weeks, with half of them having a legal right to be in Pakistan. The embassy expressed disappointment, saying, “Despite the repeated promises of the Pakistan authorities, the arrest and harassment of Afghan refugees by the police in Pakistan continues.”
Furthermore, a group of former US diplomats and representatives of resettlement organizations urged Pakistan not to deport Afghans awaiting US visas under a program that resettles vulnerable refugees fleeing Taliban rule.
The United Nations also voiced concerns, stating that the crackdown could lead to human rights violations and the separation of families.
