PESHAWAR: Although, Afghan authorities had conditioned ‘deportation’ of illegal Afghan nationals to Afghanistan with a verification letter from the Afghan consulate general, 69 persons were deported to Afghanistan via Torkham border on Saturday.

Officials said that Afghan authorities accepted the deported persons without verification letter from the Afghan consulate general in the provincial capital.

On Friday, not even a single illegal Afghan national could be deported after Afghan authorities linked the acceptance of deportations with the verification of their status by the Afghan consulate-general.

Official sources in the Afghan consulate general told Dawn that the deportation condition was introduced for multiple reasons, especially the arrival of Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan as “Afghan deportees” which however was refused by officials on this side of the border.

They also alleged that hundreds of Afghan nationals were arrested in Pakistan before being repatriated without their belongings. They added that in many cases, men from undocumented families were deported leaving behind their female members of family.

With 814 illegal Afghan nationals, according to a latest survey, still present in the province, officials involved in processing repatriation of illegal Afghan nationals said that a total of 240,454 illegal Afghan nationals had so far left for Afghanistan since September 17.

They said that 236,628 individuals left for Afghanistan via Torkham in Khyber district, 3407 via Angoor Adda border crossing in South Waziristan district and 419 illegal Afghans left for Afghanistan via Kharlachi border crossing in Kurram district.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2023