The government has deported 496 people in Pakistan’s prisons as the arrests of illegal refugees continue across the country.

Authorities said that 144 prisoners from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 271 prisoners from Punjab and 81 prisoners from Punjab were among those deported.

The ministry of interior said that a total of 167,000 refugees had returned to Afghanistan till November 4.

A control room has been created in KP to monitor the movement of refugees across the border.

The government began arresting refugees and transferring them to holding camps as soon as the November 1 deadline for their voluntary return expired.