Pakistan had given migrants without proper papers until November 1 to leave the country voluntarily or face arrest or expulsion. Aid agencies have warned that people returning to Afghanistan are facing "dire" conditions.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled Pakistan following the expiry of a government deadline, officials said on Thursday.
Pakistan had given migrants without proper papers until November 1 to leave the country voluntarilyor face arrest or expulsion. The vast majority of undocumented foreign citizens in Pakistan are Afghans.
Islamabad has blamed Afghans in Pakistan for smuggling, terror attacks and petty crimes.
What do we know about the Afghans leaving Pakistan?
Before the announcement, around 1.7 million Afghan refugees were living in the country. Many Afghan citizens have lived in Pakistan for decades, having fled the neighboring country amid years of conflict.
Reuters news agency cited Khyber Tribal District Deputy Commissioner Nasir Khan as saying that more than 24,000 Afghans left Pakistan through the Torkham border crossing on Wednesday.
Officials told the German DPA news agency at least 30,000 Afghans had fled Pakistan over the last 24 hours.
"We expect a similar number of people would cross the border today," Fazal Rabbi, deputy head of Pakistan's agency for refugees, told dpa.
Over 140,000 refugees had crossed into Afghanistan before the November 1 deadline, according to Pakistani government statistics.
Major international aid agencies warned of chaotic scenes as people returned to Afghanistan.
Source: DW
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