Islamabad/Peshawar:
With Eid holidays coming to an end on Wednesday, it is likely that the process to expel all illegal foreigners and the headlines of the Afghan citizen card (ACC) obtains impulse as the deadline for its voluntary departure has officially expired.
In this sense, Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and informed him about progress regarding the process of repatriation of Afghan nationals.
According to official data, a total of 886,242 national Afghan nationals have left Pakistan as of April 1, with continuous repatriations.
The authorities have warned about strict legal actions against those who did not leave before the deadline, reinforcing the government’s commitment to enforce immigration laws.
Pakistan had established a March 31 deadline for all illegal residents, including the headlines of Afghan citizens cards, to voluntarily return to their countries of origin.
However, with the last deadline, the Government has indicated the beginning of the forced removals and the legal measures against those still reside in the country without the appropriate documentation.
The deadline for his return ended on March 31, but the repatriation process could not formally begin due to EID holidays.
There are 43 camps for Afghan refugees in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The number of Afghan nationals in Pakistan who has registration cards (POR) is 1,344,584. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the total number of registered Afghan refugees is 709,278, of which 344,908 reside in the camps.
The number of Afghan refugees who have Afghan citizen cards is 307,647. Since 2013, a total of 465,000 Afghan refugees have returned through the Torkham border.
In Baluchistan, 317,000 Afghan refugees are registered, while Punjab has 196,000, Sindh has 74,117, Islamabad has 42,718 and Azad Kashmir has 4,448 Afghan refugees residing.
The Afghan interim government under the Taliban on Tuesday had asked Islamabad not to begin the deportation of Afghan citizens.
“In particular, Pakistan has announced a renewed repression, stating that he will deport people without legal residence permits, even when valid card holders face uncertainty,” said a statement from the Afghan government on April 1, according to Bakhtar’s official news agency.
The mass deportation campaign, launched last year, is part of the broader strategy of Pakistan to regulate undocumented migration and address the growing security concerns.
Meanwhile, the law enforcement agencies in twin cities have received instructions to stop and deport the Afghan citizens involved in criminal activities, together with their families.
In Rawalpindi, the police chief ordered the superintendents of the divisions of Rawal, Potohar and Saddar to undertake legal actions against undocumented Afghan citizens who reside or work in the district.
The authorities have explicitly directed to arrest the Afghans involved in criminal activities. However, the directive also requires a broader punitive approach, stipulating that if a family member is convicted of a crime, the whole family will face deportation.
After the orders of the police officer of the city of Rawalpindi (CPO), all the officers of the house (SHO) have had the task of identifying and detaining the Afghan citizens who live in their respective jurisdictions and their families.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recognized the hospitality of Pakistan towards refugees, while emphasizing that a sustainable solution requires that “we all work together: Afghanistan, Pakistan and the international community.”
In his EID message, the UNHCR Pakistan representative, Philippa Candler, reiterated that Pakistan could not be expected to assume the responsibility of organizing Afghan refugees indefinitely.
He asked for a comprehensive approach to address the immediate challenges and long term facing Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Afghan refugees themselves.
Candler further emphasized the crucial role of the international community, highlighting the need for continuous humanitarian aid, not only for short -term relief but also to support long -term development initiatives.
