After the expiry of a deadline for voluntary return to Afghanistan, authorities in Pakistan on Thursday arrested 60 illegal Afghan migrants from different areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad during a search operation, local media reported.
The Express Tribune reported that 22 migrants were arrested in Islamabad and 38 in Rawalpindi.
All of them were later transferred to a camp in the Haji Camp area.
After their biometric and registration at the camp, these people will be shifted to the Landi Kotal area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from where they will be deported to Afghanistan through Torkham border crossing.
Pakistan had set a March 31 deadline for all illegal residents, including Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holder, to voluntarily return to their home countries.
Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) — issued by Pakistan authorities and held by 800,000 people, according to the United Nations — face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline.
More than 1.3 million Afghans who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, are also to be moved outside the capital Islamabad and neighbouring city Rawalpindi.
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