More than 165,000 Afghan migrants left Pakistan in October to return to their country after a government ultimatum that allowed them to leave voluntarily before facing deportation expired, official sources at the border reported on Thursday.
The vast majority of them have rushed to the border in recent days, with Pakistan giving illegal Afghans, estimated at 1.7 million, until November 1 to leave the country.
These people preferred to leave on their own rather than be arrested and placed in purpose-built detention centers with the aim of being deported.
More than 129,000 people fled through the Torkham border post, the main border crossing between the two countries, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Northwest) province, where the majority of Afghans live, the provincial government said.
According to Pakistani border officials, a total of 38,100 migrants passed through Chaman in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
In Torkham, 28,000 people passed through on Wednesday alone, and Pakistani officials worked late into the night to clear the long line of vehicles.
They then have To across the border with the Afghan authorities, who are overwhelmed by the sudden influx of refugees.
“Irregular Afghans have arrived in Torkham in large numbers because of the deadline (…) People can still return voluntarily, but only 1,000 are present at the border today,” Abdul Nasir Khan, a district administration official, told AFP.