So far more than 400,000 Afghan refugees return: Mujahid

KABUL (Pajhwok): Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says more than 400,000 Afghan refugees have returned to the country from Pakistan since November 1.

Mujahid told Associated Press on Monday that a large number of Afghan refugees had returned to the country through Torkhan and Spin Boldak crossings.

The government of Pakistan had set November 1 the deadline for all refugees lacking legal stay documents to leave the country or face mass deportations, but according to reports, Afghan refugees with legal documents are also being arrested, their houses demolished and many forcibly evicted from Pakistan.

Earlier, Baluchistan Information Minister Jan Muhammad Achakzai told a press conference the eviction of undocumented Afghan migrants would end in January next.

The caretaker government would then announce a fresh schedule for the eviction of documented Afghan refugees as well, he added.

Pointing to the current security situation in Afghanistan, Achakzai said war had ended in that country and the refugees should leave Pakistan.

Meanwhile, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan Human Rights Commission and some other organization had asked Pakistan to halt deporting Afghan refugees.

kk/ma

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