The US State Department has launched an emergency hotline for Afghans facing deportation or detainment in Pakistan who are in a US immigration and resettlement pathway.

“Available Mon-Sat from 8AM to midnight Islamabad time, via phone and via WhatsApp (text only) at: +1 757-916-4100,” it said in a post on X.

The development comes as Pakistan expels illegal immigrants from the country. The decision was taken against the backdrop of an increase in terrorist activities in which Pakistan claimed many attackers were Afghan nationals.

Pakistan had set a Nov 1 deadline for all illegal immigrants, including some 1.73 million undocumented Afghans, to leave the country or face forcible expulsion. Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai told reporters on Friday that so far 400,000 illegal immigrants have left the country.

Earlier this month, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that Pakistan was working on an “arrangement” for Afghans awaiting US and other visas, at-risk individuals.

Afghan applicants for special visas to the US and other Western nations had a right to stay in Pakistan for a “limited time,” he told Arab News and added that Islamabad was working with Afghan groups to reach an “agreement” to protect those who face the risk of persecution at home.

In October, a group of former top US officials and US resettlement organisations urged Pakistan to exempt from deportation to Afghanistan thousands of Afghan applicants for special US visas or refugee relocation to the United States.