ISLAMABAD: While there is just nine days left for the undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face deportation, a very slow pace of voluntary repatriation has been seen.
Officials say a total of 59,561 Afghan nationals living in Pakistan without valid documents have so far left the country. The commissionerate for Afghan refugees has made arrangements to facilitate the repatriation of Afghans.
Most of the undocumented aliens in the country are Afghan nationals. Besides the refugees from Afghanistan who have lived in Pakistan for decades, a large number of people from the neighboring country fled to Pakistan soon after the takeover of Kabul by Taliban following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces in 2021.
Officials at the Torkham border said that daily they were processing the exit of a very few families and those returning to Afghanistan consisted of mostly women and children.
They expressed the fear that most of the illegal Afghans would either not leave the country or make a comeback keeping in view the situation that would evolve after expiry of the deadline on Nov 1.
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