Following the intensification of the deportation process of refugees from Pakistan, Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has started distributing free mobile phone SIM cards to returnees, in addition to providing telecommunications and internet services.

AWCC officials said they are also offering free voice calls and internet packages for the migrants.

“We are distributing SIM cards to the migrants being deported from Pakistan,” said Ibrarullah Zahir, the Sales Manager of AWCC in the eastern zone.

The company’s officials emphasized that they are offering these free telecommunications and internet services to returnees as part of the company’s social responsibility initiatives.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Nangarhar called on all telecom networks to provide 24-hour services to returnees.

Zabihullah Zaki, the head of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Department in Nangarhar, said they are monitoring the situation of the migrants and added that telecommunications companies are cooperating in this regard.

Attaullah Sahil, head of AWCC in the eastern zone, said the company’s teams are available 24/7 to provide services to returning migrants in the area.

Meanwhile, returnees have welcomed AWCC’s initiative of distributing SIM cards to them and for other free services.

Pakistan has this month ramped up its campaign to deport hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in that country for decades.

Return refugees have, however, reported that Afghans in Pakistan are facing increasing harassment and the confiscation of their belongings by Pakistani authorities.