This is supposed to be heaven compared to Afghanistan. But thousands of refugees fleeing hunger and bombs are finding that Pakistan can also be hell.
"I thought it was bad in my country, but I think it is even worse here. We have no food, we have nowhere to live, and people don't want us," father of five, Mr Ahmid Bashir, said after crossing the border at Chaman.
After two weeks of United States bombardment, the beleaguered people of Afghanistan cannot take any more. They are moving in droves towards the southern border with Pakistan. But they are receiving a cold welcome.
The Pakistan authorities insisted yesterday that it would not open its arms to Afghan refugees. At Chaman, where there is a build-up of 15,000 refugees, Pakistani guards fired over the heads of already frightened and shattered people who tried to force their way into Pakistan.
Five people including a teenage boy were injured, most by stones thrown by the refugees who turned violent after nervous officials stopped everybody from crossing.
A UNHCR spokeswoman said they had received reports of injuries following violent scuffles. "These people are so desperate they are willing to risk injury to get across," she said.
The UNHCR estimates that 4,000 Afghans managed to slip through the Chaman crossing yesterday, on top of 6,000 who crossed on Sunday, and 10,000 last week.
Some families can be seen with their possessions in carts walking around Quetta, after getting a bus from Chaman - such as Mr Bashir's family.
The UNHCR said most refugees stay with families, and end up living in miserable and cramped conditions, or to already overcrowded camps.
Mr Bashir was not sure where his family would stay. "We are tired and hungry. I don't know what is going to happen our family," said the labourer who fled Kandahar five days ago to get away from bombs.
There are still no new refugee camps to cater for the influx on this side of the border, and no food or medical aid yet being distributed. Yesterday the UN called on Pakistan and other countries bordering Pakistan to open their borders to the refugees.
A Pakistan Foreign Ministry official said it was not in a position to really take care of massive flows of Afghan refugees into Pakistan.
He said while Pakistan's 1,560-mile border with Afghanistan cannot be completely sealed, the government position not to allow people to cross into Pakistan without valid documents continues to remain in force.
The spokesman said Pakistan was "trying whatever is possible" to allow international humanitarian agencies to send food and other relief goods into Afghanistan to contain pressure for Afghans to leave their country.
Many of the arrivals have injuries. They have grim tales of hundreds of homes destroyed and water and electricity supplies being cut off. Looting of houses is common, and Pakistani officials demanding money to let them through.
According to the UNHCR the new refugees are coming from further afield and their physical condition is visibly deteriorating.
The population of Kandahar, which has suffered the heaviest bombing in recent days, is thought to be down to 40 per cent.
Only one third of the population of the capital, Kabul, is left.
There are only four border gates on the 1,500-mile frontier, and almost 300 crossings. Refugees are telling of paying bribes to officials, of anything between £30 and £100 for a family, to get across.
Almost 1.1 million of Afghanistan's 26 million population are on the move inside the country, trying to escape areas that might be targets of the US attack. Such journeys are hazardous with around 10 million landmines scattered across Afghanistan. One hundred people die in accidents every week.
It is not just bombing they are fleeing. The country is on the verge of famine after another year of drought. Before the bombing started, 3.8 million Afghans were dependent on food aid.
Oxfam spokesman Mr Sam Barrett, who arrived in Quetta yesterday, said they have reports of 400,000 Afghans in the central highlands of Hazarajat facing starvation. They had been living on grass but even that was running out. Oxfam is planning to provide water at two planned new refugee camps near Quetta.
The biggest camp will cater for 40,000 people. Concern is also involved in providing services at the new camp.
The UN estimates that to avoid such mass starvation a minimum of 50,000 tonnes of food must get into Afghanistan in the next month. That is five times the amount that went in last month.
However, the bombing means that many truck drivers are afraid to journey deep into Afghanistan or load or unload food. What is going in is often then left at warehouses and not reaching the people who need it. And in the past week there have been reports of looting of aid supplies by the Taliban.