ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will begin the process of returning “registered refugees” to their home countries once it completes the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the country, a government official said on Thursday, amid nationwide sweeps to round up foreigners staying illegally in the South Asian country.
Islamabad last month ordered all illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan by Nov 1, triggering an exodus of foreigners, mostly Afghans, from the country. Authorities launched a crackdown after the expiry of the deadline and have been rounding up illegal immigrants in nationwide raids and deporting them to their home countries.
The Pakistani government has brushed off calls from the United Nations (UN), rights groups and Western embassies to reconsider its expulsion plan and said many of these Afghan nationals had been involved in militant attacks and in crimes that undermined the security of the country.
Kabul denies the accusations and says Pakistani security is a domestic problem, and has called on Islamabad to reconsider its decision. Of the more than 4 million Afghans living in Pakistan, the government estimated 1.7 million were undocumented.
On Thursday, Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for the government in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, said around 80,000 undocumented foreigners had left Pakistan from the southwestern province that borders Afghanistan, reiterating that illegal immigrants had been involved in militant attacks in his country.
“We are not responsible to provide for illegal foreigners. Afghan leaders should not escalate things through their harsh statements and realize their responsibilities,” Achakzai told reporters in Karachi.
“Immediately after this (deporting all undocumented foreigners), we will return registered refugees as well.”
The expulsion order followed suicide bombings in Pakistan this year that the government said involved Afghan nationals, though it did not provide any evidence.
Achakzai said Pakistani authorities had also asked the Afghan interim government to hand over Pakistanis, who were illegally living in Afghanistan and carrying out attacks from the neighboring country.
“PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has cleared that the Afghanistan interim government must hand over Pakistanis illegally living in Afghanistan who are involved in terrorism in Pakistan and take every possible measure against the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) to eliminate its sanctuaries and training camps in Afghanistan,” he added.
“Unfortunately, 200 Pakistanis are being martyred in cross-border attacks every month.”
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in militant violence in its northwestern and southwestern regions bordering Afghanistan, particularly after the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Islamabad says the TTP has been emboldened by the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and has repeatedly called on Kabul to act against it. Kabul denies the use of its land against any country.