KHYBER: Pakistani authorities have intensified their deportation campaign and repatriated 3,099 Afghan nationals through the Torkham border pass in the last 24 hours.
Deputy Commissioner Khyber Bilal Shahid Rao said that these Afghan families were residing in different districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
He said that those transported to the transit camps set up in the Landikotal included those residing in Pakistan either illegally or having Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders.
Out of these, 1,195 people were residing without documents while 1,568 people were ACC holders, the district administration said.
Moreover, 366 Afghan citizens were arrested from different districts of Punjab and transferred directly to the Torkham border from the Peshawar Juma Khan transit camp.
According to local administration, 1, 45,517 Afghan citizens including women and children were repatriated since the the expiry of a March 31 expulsion deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, an identity card issued by Islamabad.
The latest deportation exercise is part of a larger repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in September 2023. Under the programme, Pakistan deported 70,494 illegal Afghan families consisting of 469,159 people who have returned home via the Torkham border until March 2025.
In July 2024, Pakistan had extended the stay of 1.45 million Afghan refugees who were legally residing in the country and holding the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards and Afghan Citizens Card until 30 June 2025.
However, due to the Afghan’s involvement in crimes and anti-Pakistan activities, Islamabad had set a deadline of March 31 for all types of Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan to leave voluntarily or face forced deportation.
“All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before 31 March 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence from 1 April 2025,” read a press release issued by the interior on March 7.
“In continuation of the government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, the national leadership has now also decided to repatriate ACC-holders,” the ministry said.
