Peshawar (agencies)
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans residing illegally in Pakistan face the risk of arrest and deportation after the deadline set by the government for them to leave the country expired, leading to a mass exodus.
Pakistan has given an estimated 1.7 million Afghans residing in an illegal situation on its territory, until yesterday, Wednesday, to leave voluntarily, under penalty of deportation.
Thousands of people wishing to avoid deportation joined the long queue of cars at Torkham, the main border crossing between the two countries, where 29,000 migrants crossed the border the day before yesterday, through various crossing points.
Government statistics showed that more than 140,000 refugees crossed into Afghanistan before the deadline set by the government for them to leave the country expired.
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