Pakistan’s ‘unacceptable’ crackdown on illegal migrants may force 1.7 million Afghans out of the country

Pakistan’s government announced a major crackdown on Tuesday on migrants in the country illegally, saying it would expel them starting next month and raising alarm among foreigners without documentation who include an estimated 1.7 million Afghans.

The country’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the crackdown was not aimed at Afghans and would apply to all nationalities, though the vast majority of migrants in the country are Afghans.

The campaign comes amid strained relations between Pakistan and neighbouring, Taliban-led Afghanistan over what the Pakistani government says are attacks in Pakistan by Taliban-allied militants who go back and forth across the countries’ shared 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border and who find shelter in Afghanistan.

Bugti said that any migrants in Pakistan illegally should go back to their countries voluntarily before the end of October to avoid mass arrest and forced deportation. He said the government planned to confiscate the property and assets of illegal migrants, and would set up a special phone line to offer rewards to members of the public who tip off authorities about such migrants.

“Anyone living in the country illegally must go back,” he said.

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Pakistani vocational centre helps Afghan women rebuild lives through free training

Pakistani vocational centre helps Afghan women rebuild lives through free training

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government, said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s plans are “unacceptable” and that it should reconsider.