Pakistan Decrees Removal of Majority-Afghan Illegal Migrants

Migrant children from Afghanistan living in Pakistan. (Source: Wikimedia)

Pakistan’s interior minister, Sarfraz Bugti, announced a mass expulsion of illegal migrants across the nation during a press conference on October 3. Although Bugti claimed that the government would not target specific ethnic groups, the majority of Pakistan’s illegal migrants are Afghan. This upheaval will begin November 1 and puts 1.73 million undocumented Afghan migrants at risk. 

This public announcement comes after years of tense relations between Pakistan and its neighbor, Afghanistan. Just last month, the two nations fired at each other at the Torkham Border Point, the most popular trade and travel route between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Military officials do not know who fired the first shot and what provoked it. Pakistan’s military claimed its soldiers had fought Afghan militants, but the Taliban denied this accusation, responding that any clashes were domestic skirmishes.

Past border skirmishes involved the fugitive Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which further complicates the situation. While TTP is Pakistani in name, they share ideals with the Afghan Taliban. As a result, Pakistani authorities held suspicions of behind-the-scenes cooperation between the two militant groups, further raising tensions with Afghanistan.

Most recently, the Pakistani government confirmed they have evidence that Afghans orchestrated attacks on Pakistan. They claimed that Afghan nationals performed 14 of the 24 suicide bombing attacks in the past year. Using this information and public fear of terrorism, Pakistan justified cracking down on illegal migrants.

Pakistan plans to detain and deport migrants who refuse to leave, confiscating all personal assets. Authorities have also offered rewards for members of the public who report illegal migrants. 

Resistance from Afghan migrants will likely cause much civil unrest in the coming months—underground illegal migrant support groups may hide families, and the authorities’ hunt for migrants may incite an increase in street violence. Pakistani citizens could poentially speak out, prompting restrictions on free speech. 

The migrant crackdown has worsened relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban has deemed Pakistan’s current actions “unacceptable” and claims that Afghan nationals have no hand in the terrorist attacks at the borders. 

Some undocumented Afghan migrants have lived in Pakistan for decades but have not felt the need to register with the government until now. They argue that it is unrealistic for them to uproot their lives and move back to Afghanistan in one month, and even more implausible for Pakistan to believe they can eject 1.7 million refugees in that time without sending the nation into disarray. 

This effort marks Pakistan’s strongest action against illegal migrants in decades. The crackdown was largely unexpected considering that a caretaker government—which presides during the transition period before elections of new government officials—currently runs Pakistan.

Pakistan’s legacy of welcoming refugees from neighboring countries has come to an inhospitable end, and 1.7 million Afghans are now left questioning their futures.