Pakistan has decided to send back all the illegal Afghan refugees in a major policy decision, seen in the context of ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Official sources said that through a circulation summary, the caretaker federal cabinet approved the decision to repatriate as many as 1.1 million Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan illegally.
However, there was yet to be an official confirmation from the interim government. Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti has yet to respond when approached for his comment.
The sources added that as many as 400,000 Afghans entered Pakistan illegally since the return of the Afghan Taliban to Afghanistan in August 2021, adding that there have been another 700,000 Afghans identified who have been living in the country illegally.
The cabinet gave authorities the go-ahead to make arrangements for sending all these Afghans back to their homeland.