- Thousands of Afghans come together on the shaman’s border to return.
- New orders made to repatriate the Afghans respectfully and ordered.
- Iran has also expelled more than 1.5 million Afghans in recent years.
Pakistan launched a new call on Friday to Afghans living in the southwest to leave the country, triggering thousands to rush to the border, officials said.
An expulsion launched for the first time in 2023 was renewed in April when the government canceled hundreds of thousands of residence permits to the Afghans, warning them of arrests if they have not left.
“We have received directives from the Department of Domicile to launch a new will to repatriate all Afghans … in a respectful and orderly manner,” said Mehar Ullah, a senior government official in Quetta, said AFP.
On Friday, there were “around 4,000 to 5,000 people at the border of shaman” waiting to return, said Habib Bingalzai, a senior government official in Shaman.
Abdul Latif Hakimi, the chief of refugee recording in the province of Kandahar in Afghanistan across the border, said that they were aware of an increase in the return of Afghans on Friday.
In total, more than a million Afghans have left Pakistan since 2023, including more than 200,000 since April.
The campaign has targeted more than 800,000 Afghans with temporary residence permits, some of which have been born in Pakistan or have lived here for decades.
Last year, Pakistan recorded the greatest number of deaths after attacks in a decade and the government frequently accuses Afghan nationals of participating in attacks.
Iran has also launched a large -scale expulsion campaign of the Afghans, which saw more than 1.5 million people across the border.
