Afghans in droves head to border to leave Pakistan ahead of a deadline in anti-migrant crackdown

By RIAZ KHAN and ABDUL SATTAR
Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Afghans are piling into trucks and buses and leaving Pakistan to avoid arrest and deportation. Their hurried departures on Tuesday came just hours before the expiration of a deadline for foreigners living in the country illegally to leave voluntarily or face deportation. The authorities say that as of Wednesday, Pakistan will start arresting and deporting such migrants, including millions of Afghans. The government has set up deportation centers to hold people before their repatriation. It insists the crackdown is not aimed at Afghans while at the same time acknowledging that most migrants in the country illegally are Afghan. The expulsion campaign has drawn widespread criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and even the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan.