Pak’s Punjab deports over 6,000 illegal Afghan residents in Nov

Lahore: Pakistan’s Punjab province government has intensified its crackdown on illegal Afghan residents, deporting over 6,000 people to Afghanistan this month alone, a minister said on Thursday.

The Punjab government has also paid a “cash reward” to those Pakistanis who provided information about Afghans living illegally in the province of 130 million.

“Operation against illegally residing Afghans in Punjab is in full swing. The province-wide crackdown is being carried out in an organised, legal, and effective manner,” Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said in a statement.

She said the Punjab government has encouraged citizens to share

information under the whistleblower mechanism, leading to multiple individuals providing accurate and actionable intelligence.

“Those who identify illegally residing Afghans are given cash rewards, and the identity of every whistleblower will remain strictly confidential,” she said.

The minister said that 6,220 illegal Afghan nationals have been deported to Afghanistan from Punjab in November, and the operation will continue effectively.