Pakistan to start expelling undocumented immigrants on Thursday -minister

FILE PHOTO: Trucks loaded with belongings are seen as Afghan refugees are returning home, after Pakistan gives the last warning to undocumented immigrants to leave, outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation centres in Azakhel town in Nowshera, Pakistan October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz/File photo

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan will start rounding up and expelling undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of people from neighbouring Afghanistan, on Thursday, the caretaker government's interior minister said.

Islamabad announced the plan earlier this month, saying Afghan nationals had been behind attacks, smuggling and other crimes in its territory. Kabul dismissed the accusations and rights groups protested, asking Pakistan to reconsider.