Over 713,000 Afghans deported from Pakistan since expulsion drive began last year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has repatriated more than 713,000 Afghan nationals residing in the country illegally since it launched a deportation drive last year that drew criticism from international rights organizations, state-run media reported on Tuesday.
Last November, Pakistan announced it would deport “illegal immigrants” following a spike in suicide bombings that it blamed on Afghan nationals, though no evidence was provided to support this claim. Pakistani officials also alleged that Afghan citizens were involved in smuggling and other crimes in the country.
The cash-strapped government, grappling with record inflation and a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program last year, also maintained that undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.
“According to latest statistics, the total number of illegal Afghan nationals who were repatriated till yesterday [Monday] has reached more than 713,000,” Radio Pakistan reported. “The process of repatriation of the illegal Afghan nationals to their homeland is underway in a dignified manner.”
It added that 71,193 Afghan nationals had been deported from Pakistan between August 17 and September 9.
Until the government initiated the expulsion drive last year, Pakistan was home to over four million Afghan migrants and refugees, of which around 1.7 million were undocumented, as per government figures.
Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Islamabad insists the deportation drive is not aimed specifically at Afghans but at all those living illegally in Pakistan.
International rights organizations have called on Pakistan to review its decision, warning that Afghan nationals deported may suffer from poverty and could face retaliation at the hands of the Afghan Taliban in their homeland.