Pakistan Initiates Nationwide Detention of Illegal Afghan Migrants

The Ministry of Interior of Pakistan announced that the detention of "illegal" Afghan migrants has begun across the country.

On Thursday, Pakistani media outlets reported that more than 100 Afghan migrants had recently been detained in the suburbs of Quetta city in Baluchistan province.

It had been said that all of these detained immigrants were transferred to the migrant deportation camp, and they are going to be deported through the Chaman border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan had previously warned that Afghans without valid residency documents should voluntarily return to Afghanistan before November 1.

Pakistan's Ministry of Interior added that 140,322 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan "voluntarily" last month.

According to Dawn newspaper, among these immigrants, there were several Afghan prisoners who were imprisoned in Pakistan for minor crimes.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration have also announced that since September 15, 120,180 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings.

It is said that two percent of these deportees had registration documents at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have asked Pakistan to provide a system for registering illegal Afghans instead of their forcible deportation to Afghanistan.

Despite the widespread criticism of countries, Pakistan has announced that it will continue to deport immigrants without residence documents and will not reconsider the country’s decision.