PESHAWAR: For the first time since the start of the repatriation of undocumented Afghans early this month, not a single “illegal alien” was sent home via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday as Afghan authorities linked the acceptance of deportations with the verification of their status by the Afghan consulate-general here.

Official sources in the Afghan consulate general told Dawn that the deportation condition was introduced for multiple reasons, especially the arrival of Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan as “Afghan deportees.”

“Multiple cases of Pakistanis being sent to Afghanistan as illegal migrants have been reported,” an official source in the Afghan Consulate told Dawn.

He added that whenever Afghan authorities took such Pakistanis to the border, Pakistani officials refused to receive them.

No illegal alien was sent home via KP on Friday

The source also insisted that hundreds of Afghan nationals were arrested in Pakistan before being repatriated without their belongings.

Official sources revealed the detention of documented Afghan migrants along with those voluntarily returning to their home.

“Many illegal aliens are leaving Pakistan voluntarily but they’re stopped and taken into custody on their way before their repartition. They’re not given time to carry their belongings,” an official told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

He added that though authorities had promised not to bother returning Afghans, harassment was reported by such undocumented migrants.

Officials also said that there were also multiple complaints about members of Afghan families being separated from each other.

They said in “many” cases, men from undocumented families were deported leaving behind their female members.

Pakistani officials told Dawn that Afghan authorities had never informed them about the deportation condition.

They insisted that not even a single person could leave the country without being documented by the National Database and Registration Authority.

The officials rejected the claim of Pakistanis being repatriated to Afghanistan as “baseless” and insisted that the pictures and fingerprints of all deportees were kept by the Nadra for “future use.”

They said the verification condition by Afghan authorities would further delay the deportation of illegal migrants as those involved in the process had to wait for the verification letter from the Afghan consulate-general forcing such foreigners to spend more days in detention.

“Only deportation is linked with the verification letter. The voluntary repatriation is still continuing without any hurdle,” an official told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, around 119 illegal migrants were deported from Punjab to Afghanistan via the Torkham border crossing on Thursday, according to officials.

They said 52 undocumented Afghans were sent home from Attock, 12 from Rawalpindi, 47 from Chakwal, two from Pakpattan, one from Hafizabad and five from Gujrat.

The officials said 16 illegal aliens were deported from Islamabad, 188 from Peshawar and 22 from Khyber tribal district.

They said over 238,519 illegal migrants, including 66,294 men, 52,199 women and 116,209 children, had left for Afghanistan via Torkham border point in Khyber district and via Kharlachi border point in Parachinar district since Sept 17.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2023