Pakistan launches crackdown on ‘Undocumented Afghan Nationals’

Afghan deportation (Photo: APP)

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan authorities on Wednesday November 1, launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants, particularly undocumented Afghan nationals, across the country as the deadline for undocumented foreigners expired a day earlier.

State-run news agency reported on Thursday November 2 that on the first day of the nationwide campaign for deportation of illegal foreigners started on Wednesday after the expiry of the October 31 deadline, about 7,380 undocumented immigrants were registered at Landikotal camp and were later deported via the Torkham border in free transport service.

“A total of 64 illegal immigrants who were released from Adyala jail Rawalpindi and shifted to Peshawar and 51 undocumented foreigners released from Central Jail Peshawar were also deported via Torkham,” Lateefur Rehman, spokesman of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw Home Department told APP.

Mostly Afghans are coming from Islamabad and Punjab province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where three holding camps were set up for verification and documentation process before their deportation to home countries.

Spokesman said illegal immigrants were also deported through Angoor Ada South Waziristan, Kharlachi Kurram and Ghulam Khan North Waziristan authorized border points.

Official statements and the media reports have suggested that more than a 100,000 illegal Afghan migrants have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan after the Pakistan government’s warning and a large number of others have reached at two main border crossing points – one at Chamman in Balochistan province and the other at Torkham, in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw province.

The reports say that undocumented foreigners in different parts of the country including Karachi, Rawalpindi and other cities are being detained and moved to ‘holding centers’ before being repatriated to their respective countries.

Pakistan is home to more than 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of them undocumented, according to the interior ministry, including many who were born in Pakistan and lived there their entire lives.

Islamabad announced earlier this month that it wanted all undocumented immigrants to leave by November 1 after they were found involved in crimes, smuggling and 14 suicide bombings out of 24 this year.

In Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, heavy contingent of police reached the specific areas and warned the undocumented immigrants through loudspeaker to return to their country.

Earlier, announcements were also made through loudspeakers from the mosques.

Similarly, dozens of illegal immigrants from different areas were detained from Balochistan’s Chaman area, Levies officials said.

The officials of Levies, a paramilitary force, said the undocumented Afghan migrant families are being shifted to holding centers after registration. They added that as many as five thousand illegal Afghan refugees had been shifted to the holding center so far.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Kashif Aftab Abbasi said police teams along with the district administration are present in different areas to advise the undocumented foreigners to return to their country.

According to Afghan Commissionerate sources, as many as 104,000 Afghan refugees living illegally in Pakistan have returned to Afghanistan so far.

Inspector General of Police in Punjab province Mr. Usman Anwar said the plan for the repatriation of illegal residents has been finalized and the provincial police will implement the federal government directives in this regard.

He said detained undocumented foreigners will be kept at holding centers and will be expelled from the province after fulfilling legal formalities.

He said providing transport, food and other arrangements will be the responsibility of district administration.

Biometric verification of the detained Afghan citizens will be conducted by National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in the holding center.

Punjab has setup 36 Holding Centers across the province.

It was learnt that foreigners from Islamabad and Punjab would be brought to the holding point in Landikotal, a border town. Others from Peshawar and different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be shifted to the holding camp on Nasir Bagh Road from where they will be taken to the Torkham border.

Speaking to the media, Interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jillani clarified that only those Afghan refugees are being deported who are living in Pakistan without legal documents.

He said there are numerous categories of Afghan refugees and only the undocumented immigrants were respectfully told to leave Pakistan.

The foreign minister also said that the authorities will show leniency towards those Afghan refugees who might face problems after returning to their country.

He said the interim Afghan government has also formed a commission for the rehabilitation of the refugees.

Pakistan as well as other countries will extend support to the interim Afghan government for the rehabilitation of the returnees, Jillani added.

Similar views were expressed by Interim Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, who added that in future, no one would be allowed to enter Pakistan without valid passport and other documents.

Meanwhile, responding to a petition submitted by Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has written a letter to the government and other stakeholders urging them to deal with Afghan asylum seekers according to national and international human rights commitments.

A delegation of prominent human rights defenders (HRDs) submitted a petition in NCHR requesting the Commission to play its role in restraining the government from detaining, forcefully deporting or otherwise harassing Afghan asylum-seekers.

The petition also suggested the Commission to direct UNHCR to expeditiously process and decide all the asylum-seeking applications files by the foreigners presently residing in Pakistan especially Afghan Human Rights Defenders.

A number of politicians have also petitioned the Supreme Court seeking the judiciary’s intervention against the country’s interim government’s move to deport illegal foreign nationals, including Afghans.

Leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami, National Democratic Movement (NDM) and others have filed a plea in the top court, urging it to take suo motu action.

The federation, Islamabad Capital Territory, all four provinces, United National High Commission for Refugees, and relevant ministries and departments have been made parties to the case.

The petitioners, in their plea, mentioned that the interim government had launched a mass deportation drive against “illegal immigrants” without providing any robust mechanism for distinguishing refugees, asylum-seekers, and birthright citizens.

“This decision, attributed to the apex committee of the caretaker government, is causing a massive violation of fundamental rights of around 4.4 million persons of Afghan origin who are for the time being in Pakistan,” the plea mentioned.