ISLAMABAD
\nPakistan has started rounding up and deporting undocumented foreigners : including 1.7 million Afghan nationals : following a one-month deadline for voluntary departure that expired, and also rejected an American list of potential Afghan resettlers declaring it as \u201cflawed\u201d.
\nAuthorities have reported that nearly 250,000 Afghans have returned to their home country voluntarily in the run-up to the November 1 deadline to avoid being arrested and forcibly expelled.
\nThe United Nations and Pakistani officials say those facing deportation include more than 600,000 people who fled Afghanistan after the Islamist Taliban returned to power in August 2021, when the United States and NATO withdrew their troops from the country.
\nAccording to Voice of America (VOA), US officials say they are working closely with Pakistani counterparts to ensure the protection of at least 25,000 Afghans who could be eligible for relocation to the United States under a special immigration programme for their services during the two-decade-long presence of American forces in Afghanistan.
\nBut a senior Pakistani official has said that Islamabad had rejected the list because of significant discrepancies. \u201cThe list of 25,000 Afghans was shared with Pakistan just days before the deportation deadline was to expire. We examined it thoroughly but found it flawed and incomplete,\u201d said the official on Wednesday, who spoke on condition of anonymity for not being authorized to discuss the subject publicly.
\nThe official added that the US side eventually withdrew the list in response to Pakistan\u2019s objections and promised to resubmit it after removing the flaws. Washington did not comment immediately on Pakistani assertions.
\nOn Tuesday, a US official said that facilitating \u201cthe safe and efficient\u201d resettlement of Pakistan-based eligible Afghan refugees and asylum seekers is a priority for the US administration. \u201cTo help protect vulnerable individuals, we have shared a list with the government of Pakistan of more than 25,000 Afghan individuals in the US resettlement and relocation pipelines,\u201d said the US official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the policy. \u201cWe are in the process of sending letters to those individuals that they can share with local authorities to help identify them as individuals in the US pipeline.\u201d
\nDozens of Afghan nationals jailed for \u201cminor crimes\u201d also were released from a prison near Islamabad and were transported along with others to the border for repatriation Wednesday.
\n\u201cThis action is a testament to Pakistan\u2019s determination to repatriate any individuals residing in the country without proper documentation,\u201d Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said on social media platform X.
\nPakistan has been praised globally for hosting millions of Afghan refugees who fled the decadelong Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and ensuing factional fighting in the 1990s. Currently, more than 4 million Afghans reside in the country, including 1.4 million legally registered refugees and hundreds of thousands of documented economic migrants.
\nPakistani authorities have stated that Afghans living legally in the country are not subject to the crackdown.
\nIslamabad defends its policy regarding foreigners without legal status, saying Afghan nationals have carried out several suicide bombings in Pakistan amid a recent spike in deadly attacks in the country being orchestrated by Taliban-allied militants from Afghan soil.
\nThe violence has led to anti-Afghan sentiment and calls for forcing the refugee community out of the country. The United States has called on Pakistan to let through Afghans who are seeking asylum.
\n\u201cWe strongly encourage Afghanistan\u2019s neighbours including Pakistan to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection and to coordinate with international humanitarian organisations to provide humanitarian assistance,\u201d State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Pakistan has started rounding up and deporting undocumented foreigners : including 1.7 million Afghan nationals : following a one-month deadline for voluntary departure that expired, and also rejected an American list of potential Afghan resettlers declaring it as \u201cflawed\u201d. Authorities have reported that nearly 250,000 Afghans have returned to their home country voluntarily in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-365616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n