Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Pakistan, home to more than 1.7 million people who have fled violence in neighboring Afghanistan, is launching a mass deportation of “illegal immigrants,” authorities said Tuesday.
But their presence in Pakistan has long been controversial, with police crackdowns and threats of deportation in previous years.
Hundreds of Afghans have already been deported from Pakistan this year, according to volunteer groups, citing local records.
Many Afghans fled the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979, settling in Pakistan during the biggest refugee crisis in the world at the time.
“It is deeply concerning that the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention.”
Persons:
Sarfraz Bugti, ”, Bugti, Rizwan Tabassum
Organizations:
Pakistan CNN —, United Nations ’, Getty, National Apex Committee, Nonprofit, Amnesty
Locations:
Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Afghanistan, Karachi, AFP, Soviet, Kabul, United States