The government of Pakistan has ordered all “undocumented immigrants,” mainly 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to voluntarily leave the country by November 1 or face deportations.
“We have given them a November 1 deadline,” Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Tuesday amid claims by Pakistan that “14 of 24 suicide bombings in the country this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.”
Bugti said an estimated 1.73 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan have no legal documents to stay, adding that a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees live in Pakistan.
“If they do not go, … then all the law enforcement agencies in the provinces or federal government will be utilised to deport them,” Bugti said.
Bugti also warned of a crackdown on property and businesses owned by the Afghans in Pakistan.
The largest influx of Afghan refugees in Pakistan happened in 1979 when the Soviet invaded the country. About 1.3 million Afghans are registered refugees in Pakistan and 880,000 more have legal status to remain, according to the latest United Nations figures.