Pakistan's top court begins hearing challenge to expulsion of Afghans

FILE PHOTO: Afghan nationals with their belongings travel on vehicles as they head back to Afghanistan, after Pakistan gave a final warning to undocumented immigrants to leave, at the Friendship Gate of Chaman Border Crossing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border in Balochistan Province, in Chaman, Pakistan November 4, 2023. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed/File photo

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court began hearings on Friday on a petition by rights activists seeking to halt deportation of Afghan refugees, a lawyer said, as authorities are combing refugee settlements in an effort to find and send home thousands.

More than 370,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan since Oct. 1, after Pakistan vowed to expel more than a million undocumented refugees, mostly Afghans, amid a row with Kabul over charges that it harbours anti-Pakistan militants.