A Pakistani province aims to deport 10,000 Afghans a day
The HinduA Pakistani province is setting targets for police to arrest and deport hundreds of thousands of Afghans it says are in the country illegally, officials said on Thursday. “Instructions have gone to police to arrest Afghans living in Pakistan illegally,” said Jan Achakzai, spokesperson for the government in southwestern Baluchistan province. Mr. Achakzai made his comment days after authorities at the two key northwestern Torkham and southwestern Chaman border crossings acknowledged a sudden decrease in the number of Afghans who were sent back to Afghanistan after being arrested on the charges of living in Pakistan illegally. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans were living in Pakistan in October when authorities announced the crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to go back to their countries by October 31 or be arrested. On Tuesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Pakistani authorities have committed widespread abuses against Afghans living in the country to compel their return home.