KHYBER: Immigration officials at the Torkham border said on Sunday that over 3,000 Afghan families, who had been illegally residing in Pakistan, had returned to their country since October 1.

They said the repatriation process of the ‘illegal Afghans’ had gained momentum after Pakistan asked all the illegal aliens residing in different parts of the country to leave within a stipulated period of time.

The Federal Investigation Agency officials said 3,134 illegal Afghan families, including 23,203 children, 9,335 men and 5,993 women, had crossed the border since the start of October.

They said in the past the return of Afghans in winter was not very encouraging, but this time it had increased due to strict policy of the government.

Meanwhile, additional chief secretary home department Abid Majid along with Peshawar division commissioner Mohammad Zubair and Khyber deputy commissioner Abdul Nasir also paid a visit to Torkham and Landi Kotal and assessed the preparations and facilities for the returning Afghans.

They also visited a camp in Landi Kotal, which was temporarily established for the returning families.

Mr Majid was told on the occasion that the camp was a temporary arrangement as the local administration wanted to minimise the traffic and pedestrian rush at the border crossing.

He was told that returning Afghan families were kept in the temporary camp till they received clearance from the border authorities, and then these families were sent to the border crossing in small groups in order to avoid congestion and inconvenience to the returning Afghans.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023