The interim government on Monday cautioned the Afghan migrants — both illegal and legal — to avoid supporting or providing funding to any candidate for political and electoral activities in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Interior, in a statement, said that the violation of the directives would lead to deportation even if the status of an Afghan citizen was legal.
“Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan were cautioned that it was illegal to support or provide funding to any candidate for political and electoral activities in Pakistan. Any Afghan citizen involved in such activities will be deported regardless of his or her legal status in Pakistan,” it said.
The ministry also cautioned the Pakistani people not to provide employment to illegal aliens or assist such individuals in obtaining employment.
Read more: Pakistan to evict 1.1m illegal Afghan refugees
“Information about any such illegal alien or the person providing employment to him should be provided to the Ministry of Interior for legal action,” the statement concluded.
Last month, authorities in Islamabad set November 1 as the ultimate deadline for the voluntary exit of undocumented foreigners, prompted by a surge of terrorist attacks primarily linked to Afghan nationals.
The interim government has established facilities for migrants, including an estimated 1.7 million Afghans. Individuals discovered residing in the country without proper authorisation will face arrest and subsequent transfer to 49 designated centres across the country.
Pakistan has received the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans moved to Pakistan to escape war and conflicts, and many are registered as refugees with the government and UN agencies.
The expulsion plan marks a new low in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan after border clashes in recent months.
Islamabad says that the terrorists use Afghan soil to train militants and plan attacks inside Pakistan.
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