Pakistan Expelling Afghans

With two wars currently grabbing global attention, this bit of international immigration news might have slipped your notice: Pakistan has been forcibly removing hundreds of thousands (not a typo, that many) Afghans from its country.

Pakistan is acting to rid the country of “illegal foreign nationals.” It just so happens that 1.7 million Afghans are living in Pakistan without authorization. (Another 2.3 million Afghans live in Pakistan pursuant to some authorized status and are apparently not the target of this plan.) In addition, WaPo reports that expulsions may extend to other undocumented populations including Uyghurs from China and Rohingya from Myanmar.

Pakistan asserts that the mass expulsions are an issue of national security. Undocumented individuals are being moved to Pakistani “holding centres” before repatriation.

Notably, some of those being expelled were born in Pakistan and have never lived in Afghanistan.

This 7-year-old girl and her family are among thousands of Afghans fleeing Pakistan’s mass deportation drive. Now they are stuck at the border with little food or shelter. pic.twitter.com/bnbS8sfXbi

— DW News (@dwnews) November 6, 2023

-KitJ