As the seconds counted down to the deadline, as many as 1.7 million Afghans, including children and women, collected all their belongings, loaded them on trucks and made the journey back home – concerned about the persecution at the hands of the Taliban.

But why Pakistan has launched a crackdown on Afghan migrants knowing they would be oppressed back home? The deportation circular has come at a time when Pakistan has been facing a rise in the number of suicide attacks which the government attributes to Afghanistan-based groups.

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Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister Sarfraz Bugti announced the government’s decision to expel undocumented immigrants, saying Afghan nationals had been behind attacks, smuggling and other crimes in its territory. “There have been 24 suicide bomb attacks since January this year and 14 of them were carried out by Afghan nationals,” Sarfraz Bugti said.

Also Read: Afghan diaspora is losing hope of returning home after Taliban takeover

Islamabad has said that Afghans were involved in 14 suicide attacks this year and has accused militant groups operating in its territory of training fighters over the border.

Western embassies and the United Nations have urged Pakistan to identify and protect Afghans at risk of persecution at home. “Amnesty International strongly reiterates its call to the Government of Pakistan to immediately reverse its decision to forcibly deport unregistered Afghan refugees ahead of the deadline set for tomorrow,” the group said in a statement.

The group added that Pakistan must meet its international legal obligations including the principle of non-refoulment and stop the crackdown against, and harassment of, Afghan refugees across the country.

(With agency inputs)

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Updated: 01 Nov 2023, 12:49 PM IST