Pak detains, deports Afghans living in country

Refugees in Pakistan prepare to depart for Afghanistan. Pic/AP

Pakistani security forces on Wednesday rounded up, detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally, after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired, authorities said. The sweep is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, according to Islamabad, though it mostly affects some 2 million Afghans who are in Pakistan without documentation.

The crackdown has drawn widespread criticism from UN agencies, rights groups and the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan. The authorities said Wednesday's sweeps took place in the port city of Karachi, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, and in various areas in the southwestern Baluchistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, which border Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, thousands of Afghans had crammed into trucks and buses and headed to the two key border crossings to return home to avoid arrest and forced deportation. Agencies

2M
No of illegal Afghans in Pakistan

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