Pakistan prepares to expel illegal migrants as ultimatum reaches final day, Chaman - 31 Oct 2023

Afghan refugees wait to cross the Afghan border, on the eve of the Pakistani Govt. deadline to expel illegal migrants, in Chaman, Pakistan, 31 October 2023. Pakistan is preparing to implement its plan to expel undocumented migrants as the deadline for them to leave the country expires at midnight. The move particularly affects the millions of Afghan refugees who had fled their homeland, many of them driven by decades of armed conflict and the return to power of the Taliban. Since the Pakistan authorities announced the 31 October deadline earlier this month, a huge migratory flow has been recorded on the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to official data, there are about 4.4 million Afghan refugees in the country, of which 1.7 million are not registered. Most of them fled during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.