Afghanistan's Taliban government has urged Pakistan to give illegal Afghans living there additional time to depart of their own volition since border stations are under tremendous strain from thousands of people who are going home to avoid the possibility of deportation.
The deadline for the 1.7 million Afghans residing in Pakistan illegally to go voluntarily or face deportation was set by the government on November 1.
Since the order was issued at the beginning of October, over 130,000 individuals have reportedly left Pakistan, according to border authorities in the cities of Torkham and Chaman. There is extreme traffic on both sides of the border crossings as a result of this large-scale migration.
The Taliban leadership thanked Pakistan and other countries in a statement for welcoming millions of Afghans who had to flee their country due to decades of violence.
They have, however, asked that these countries give Afghans additional time to make the required arrangements rather than forcefully deporting them without warning.
The Taliban have pushed for Afghans to go back home ever since taking control in August 2021.
They have, however, also criticized Pakistan's actions, claiming that Afghan citizens are being punished as a result of the tensions that exist between Islamabad and Kabul. The Taliban is advocating for giving individuals more time to exercise their own volition.
According to the Pakistani government, 1.7 million Afghans live in the country without the appropriate papers; these people will either have to return home voluntarily or face repatriation.
There was a seven-kilometer line at the biggest border crossing on Wednesday due to the large number of Afghans queuing up. At least 29,000 migrants had already entered Afghanistan the day before.
As per Feroz Jamal, a provincial government spokeswoman, officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where most Afghan migrants live, are getting ready for a massive operation to jail unauthorized families who are refusing to leave.
To process and deport Afghans, the government erected 49 holding camps, some of which can house several thousand individuals.