A mass exodus was triggered on Wednesday, November 1 as hundreds of thousands of Afghan residents in Pakistan found themselves at risk of detention and deportation due to a government-mandated deadline for their departure.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan faced detention and deportation on Wednesday, as a government deadline for them to leave sparked a mass exodus.

Islamabad claims that 1.7 million Afghans are living illegally in the country and has given them until November 1 to leave voluntarily or be forcibly removed.

Thousands joined a snaking queue that stretched seven kilometers (four miles) at the busiest border point. Officials reported that at least 29,000 people crossed into Afghanistan the day before.

More than 140,000 people have reportedly left Pakistan since the start of October when the order was issued by an unelected caretaker government ahead of elections, due in January.

According to state media, forty-nine holding centers, some capable of holding several thousand people, opened across the country on Wednesday to process and deport Afghans.

Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan in recent decades, fleeing a series of violent conflicts, including an estimated 600,000 since the Taliban government seized power in August 2021 and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

Pakistan said that the deportations are to protect its “welfare and security” after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan.

The United States called on Pakistan to let through Afghans who are seeking asylum.

Authorities on the Afghan side of the border have been overwhelmed by the scale of the exodus as they attempt to process those returning, some of whom are setting foot in Afghanistan for the first time in their lives.

The Taliban government urged Pakistan to give undocumented Afghans in the country more time to leave as pressure mounts at border posts.

Lawyers and rights groups accused the Pakistani government of using threats, abuse and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers to leave while Afghans have reported weeks of arbitrary arrests and extortion.

However, analysts say that the expulsion of undocumented Afghans has widespread support from Pakistanis, with a protracted refugee presence putting a heavy burden on the country’s infrastructure.

Thousands of families arrived voluntarily on Wednesday at a holding center in Landi Kotal near the Torkham border, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the majority of Afghan migrants live.

In other cities, police vans with detained Afghans were seen arriving at urban holding centers.

Authorities also targeted houses and businesses they deemed illegal, as well as Pakistanis accused of sheltering undocumented Afghans.

In Balochistan, the government said that it was going door-to-door to trace undocumented Afghans who refused to leave before the deadline.

Khalil Wakim, with AFP