The police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have decided not to use force against illegal Afghan immigrants till October 31.

According to sources in the police department, action will be initiated against illegal immigrants only after October 31 as the police officials and DPOs have been directed to collect the data of illegal resident migrants while ensuring to be respectful for all refugees.

Currently, illegal Afghan residents are voluntarily leaving the country, they said, adding that the remaining illegal refugees will be expelled according to the law after the deadline of November 1.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan recently set a deadline of November 1 for all illegal refugees to sell their properties and leave the country. After the deadline, all illegal foreigners would be deported.

Data by the government has revealed that most of the nearly a million Afghan nationals living in the KP possess legal documents for staying in Pakistan.

Data shared with Aaj News by authorities in the province shows that over 300,000 Afghans were settled in the province illegally, and more than 3,000 were found guilty of criminal activities.

Read: Afghan refugees in Kohat seek more time for going home

The data shows that a total of 956,720 Afghan nationals were residing in KP. Of them, 648,968 have documents while 307,752 failed to produce any proof of legal stay in Pakistan.

At least 22,039 Afghans were settled in erstwhile tribal districts.

At least 105 Afghan nationals were serving as prayer leaders in different mosques.

Authorities said that 597 illegal migrants obtained national identification cards of Pakistan which have been canceled by the authorities.