KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban-run Ministry of Refugees said Monday that 47 Afghan citizens had been released from Pakistani prisons and returned to Afghanistan through the Spin Boldak crossing.
In a statement, the ministry said the individuals had spent one to two days in detention before being deported. They were reportedly arrested by Pakistani police in various locations across Pakistan, although no specific details were provided.
The ministry noted that the figures only account for those who returned via Spin Boldak and did not offer broader statistics on the overall number of Afghan citizens released nationwide.
Including the latest group, a total of 157 Afghan citizens have been released and repatriated through Spin Boldak over the past four days. Two days earlier, 98 individuals were also freed from Pakistani custody and returned to Afghanistan.
Pakistani media reports indicated that between the beginning of April and April 26, about 18,800 Afghan migrants, mostly from the provinces of Punjab and Balochistan, were arrested and deported.
Pakistan launched the second phase of its forced deportation campaign against Afghan migrants on March 31, intensifying arrests and detentions of those without legal residency documents.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 118,400 Afghan migrants were deported from Pakistan between April 1 and April 23.
The forced returns come amid worsening humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, where many deportees face severe economic hardship and limited access to basic services.
