Pakistani Police Cracking Down On Migrants Are Arresting Afghan Women And Children, Activists Claim

Pakistani police are arresting Afghan women and children in southern Sindh Province as part of a government crackdown on migrants, activists said on November 11. More than 250,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in recent weeks as the government rounded up, arrested, and kicked out foreign nationals without papers. It set an October 31 deadline for migrants without legal status to leave the country voluntarily. The expulsions mostly affect Afghans, who make up the majority of foreigners living in Pakistan. Authorities maintain they are targeting all who are in the country illegally.