As Pakistan cracks down on illegal migrants, nearly half a million Afghans have left, minister says

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister says nearly half a million Afghans who were living in Pakistan without documents have returned home in the past more than two months as part of an ongoing crackdown on foreigners living illegally in the country. The expulsions are part of a nationwide campaign by the government in Islamabad that started two months ago on Afghans who are in Pakistan without papers or proper documentation. Pakistan insists the campaign is not against Afghans specifically, though they make up most of the foreigners in the country. Pakistan has long hosted about 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989.