In a new expulsion campaign, Pakistan is forcing many Afghans out of the country
npr.org
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Large numbers of Afghans crammed into trucks and buses in Pakistan on Tuesday, heading to the border to return home ahead of the expiration of a Pakistani government deadline for those who are in the country illegally to leave or face deportation.
The deadline is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, according to Islamabad. But it mostly affects Afghans, who make up the bulk of migrants in Pakistan.
The expulsion campaign has drawn widespread criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Human Right Watch on Tuesday accused Pakistan of resorting to "threats, abuse, and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers without legal status" to return to Afghanistan.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of turning a blind eye to Taliban-allied militants who find shelter in Afghanistan, from where they go back and forth across the two countries' shared 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border to stage attacks in Pakistan.
"I am going back with good memories," he told The Associated Press, adding he planned to head to the Torkham border crossing later Tuesday and that he'd asked the Taliban government for help to start a new life.
A U.S. diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the policy, said Washington's priority was to facilitate the safe and efficient resettlement and relocation of more than 25,000 eligible Afghans in Pakistan to the U.S.
Even before the Pakistani campaign was announced, Washington had asked Islamabad "to ensure the protection of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, including those in the U.S. resettlement and immigration pipelines," the diplomat said.
Jan Achakzai, a government spokesman in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, said on Tuesday that anyone who is detained under the new policy will be well treated and receive transport to the Chaman border crossing point.
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