Local officials in Nangarhar province say that Pakistan has deported nearly 700 Afghan families through the Torkham crossing over the past four days. According to them, more than 250 families were forcibly returned to Afghanistan just today via this crossing. Nangarhar authorities also added that they are fully prepared to provide services to the deported migrants.
Azizullah Mustafa, deputy governor of Nangarhar, said: “Among these individuals, many are men whose wives have remained behind. Their businesses and money are still in Pakistan. In some cases, it is the women who have crossed over while their husbands remain on the other side. The situation for them across the crossing has become extremely difficult.”
Baz Mohammad Abdul Rahman, head of the Department of Refugees and Repatriation in Nangarhar, stated: “So far, 675 families have returned, including 254 families who arrived today (Saturday) alone.”
Some deported migrants reported that the Pakistani government had promised to delay the deportation process until April 10, but despite this pledge, the forced expulsion operations have already begun. Khittab, a deported migrant from Pakistan, said: “It didn’t matter whether people had identity cards or not—they arrested everyone indiscriminately.”
Mohammad Yousaf, who had lived in the Faisalabad area of Islamabad for 32 years, was forcibly deported to Afghanistan.
He said: “My father is still in prison, and we have no idea where he is. We escaped at night. We hired a truck for 70,000 rupees to get here. I’m sitting here out of desperation.”
Meanwhile, since Friday, another 40 families and 38 prisoners have been deported through the Spin Boldak crossing in Kandahar province by Pakistani police.
