Islamabad: Pakistani police have detained 121 Afghan nationals while executing an enforcement operation in Lahore.
According to the authorities, 28 out of the 121Afghan nationals were released later as they possessed valid residency documents, while the 93 others were transferred to a holding centre in Lahore, Khaama Press reported.
This operation is part of an ongoing nationwide campaign by Pakistan. Islamabad has detained and deported hundreds of thousands of Afghans since late 2023.
The enforcement was intensified after the deadline for undocumented Afghans to return had expired earlier this month.
According to the Taliban administration, 3,753 Afghans returned through multiple border crossings on Friday. It did not specify the number of people who were deported from Pakistan, or returned voluntarily, even from other neighbouring countries.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UN agencies, the continued return of large numbers of Afghans is placing additional pressure on humanitarian services in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, millions of people already face food insecurity, unemployment and limited access to healthcare and basic public services, noted Khama Press.
"Afghan migrants in Pakistan said authorities are now detaining not only undocumented migrants but also Afghans whose visas or Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) have expired. Pakistani authorities say the campaign is underway in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," Amu TV reported.
An Afghan journalist in Pakistan stressed that many of those who fled after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 remain at risk.
"Those who sought refuge in Pakistan after 2021 are refugees, not ordinary migrants," she said. "Returning them to Afghanistan could cost them their lives," highlighted the report by Amu TV.
Pakistan has been warned by the United Nations and international human rights organisations to halt the forced deportations, warning that many returning Afghans could face persecution, arbitrary detention, torture or reprisals upon their return.
