Pakistan has told all unauthorised Afghan migrants that they must leave the country by the end of October.
Imagine if France announced in the wake of a terrorist attack that it was expelling all Algerians. There would be uproar across the world
The announcement was made on Tuesday, and affects as many 1.7 million men, women and children. The Pakistan government prefers to describe them as ‘illegal’ migrants rather than asylum seekers, and justifies the decision because of an increase in terrorist attacks along the Pakistan-Afghan border. There have been 24 suicide bombings in this region since the start of 2023, and the Pakistan military says more than half of the terrorist attacks were committed by Afghan citizens, most of whom belonged to either the Islamic State or the Pakistan Taliban.
According to the BBC, one of the very few Western media outlets to report the expulsion order, Pakistan’s government eventually wants all Afghan to leave, even those who have official Pakistan residence cards.
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