Thousands of Afghans continue to flood back into the country from Pakistan as they seek to avoid deportation following a deadline from Islamabad for undocumented migrants to leave, a move the United Nations warned could lead to “severe” human rights violations.
As of November 2, officials said more than 165,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan in the month since the government ordered some 1.7 million migrants — more than 1 million of whom are Afghan nationals who fled following the August 2021 seizure of power in Kabul by Taliban militants — to leave or face arrest and deportation.
Border Crossing Flooded With Afghans Amid Pakistan’s Deportation Crackdown
Thousands of Afghan refugees swamped the Chaman crossing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on November 2, a day after Islamabad’s deadline expired for undocumented foreigners to leave Pakistan or face expulsion.
The majority have rushed to the border in recent days as the November 1 deadline approached and police began to open dozens of centers to detain arrested Afghans before expelling them. On the other side of the border, Taliban officials have also opened temporary transit camps to assist those returning.
More than 100 people were detained in one police operation in the city of Karachi on November 2, while police rounded up 425 Afghans in Quetta, the city closest to the Chaman border crossing.
WATCH: Afghan refugees in Pakistan, many having traveled for days, crossed into Afghanistan as a November 1 deadline to leave the country took effect. Islamabad has vowed to deport an estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans living in Pakistan if they don’t leave voluntarily.
Islamabad has said the deportations are to protect its “welfare and security” in Pakistan after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration has dismissed Pakistan’s accusations against Afghan migrants and has…
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