Pakistan will begin the process of returning “registered refugees” to their home countries once it completes the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the country, Balochistan’s acting Minister for Information Jan Achakzai said on Thursday, amid nationwide sweeps to round up foreigners staying illegally in the South Asian country. 

“So far, 80,000 immigrants from Balochistan have left Pakistan. After this, [we] will send back the registered refugees as well,” Achakzai said while addressing a press conference in Karachi.

Jan Achakzai stated that this decision is a response to the use of Afghan soil by hostile elements for terrorist activities in Pakistan. However, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always rejected such allegations.

Achakzai stated that Pakistan intends to initiate a similar process of expelling immigrants with legal documents living in the country.

This Pakistani official also emphasized that the process of expelling “illegal” refugees will continue even after Pakistan’s upcoming elections in February next year.

Jan Achakzai said, “No one should make a mistake. This decision is made by an ‘independent government’ to repatriate all illegal immigrants. Therefore, any government that comes into power after the elections will continue this policy.”

He claimed that terrorists use Afghan territory to target Pakistan’s security forces. Therefore, Pakistan has decided to send back “illegal” immigrants to their country of origin.

Achakzai clarified that six “terrorists” killed in the city of Zhob in Balochistan last week were Afghan citizens.

He once again stressed that with the IEA’s takeover of Afghanistan, terrorist attacks in Pakistan have increased.

Achakzai noted that the Balochistan government blocked around one hundred thousand fake Pakistani national identity cards, with an additional twenty thousand blocked in Sindh.

The Minister of Information for Balochistan stated that 80,000 Afghan migrants have been expelled from the province, with plans to accelerate this process. Meanwhile, reports indicate that a UN High Commissioner for Refugees delegation postponed their trip to Khyber due to perceived threats prompted by a warning from Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has repeatedly rejected such allegations made by Pakistan government, and said that Afghanistan is not responsible for the ‘security failure’ of Islamabad.

“These are false and repeated claims. We must mention that we have a position that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against any other country, including Pakistan, and that Pakistan should understand and prevent its own problems in its own soil. Afghanistan is not responsible for the attacks in Pakistan,” IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.