PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Nearly 70 people without verification letters from the Afghan consulate in Peshawar have been deported to their homeland via the Torkham crossing.
On Friday, Afghan officials had tied the deportation of illegal migrants to verification letters from Afghanistan’s consulate. However, Saturday’s evictions took place without such documents.
Dawn quoted officials as saying on Sunday that Afghan authorities accepted 69 deportees without any verification letter from the consulate in Peshawar.
As Afghan authorities insisted on the verification of migrant status, not a single unregistered Afghan could be sent to the neighbouring country on Friday.
Sources in the consulate say the condition had been imposed for multiple reasons, especially the arrival of Pakistanis in Afghanistan in the garb of deportees.
Hundreds of Afghans were arrested in Pakistan before being repatriated without their belongings, the sources told the newspaper. In many instances, men from undocumented families were deported without their female relatives.
Pakistani officials say a total of 240,454 unregistered Afghan citizens had left for homeland since September 17 via Torkham, Angoor Adda and Kharlachi crossings.
mud
