Dawn.com
Published October 2, 2023
The caretaker government has decided to evict 1.1 million foreigners living illegally in Pakistan because of their involvement in funding and facilitating terrorists and other illegal activities, according to state-run wire service Associated Press of Pakistan.
“In the first phase, illegal residents, in the second phase, those with Afghan citizenship and in the third phase, those with proof of residence cards will be expelled,” it stated.
Quoting a “source privy to the development”, the report said foreigners illegally residing in the country “pose a serious threat to the security of Pakistan”.
It stated that the plan for eviction of illegally residing Afghan citizens had also been approved “as the lot is involved in funding, facilitating and smuggling terrorists whereas 700,000 Afghans have not renewed their proof of residence in Pakistan”.
“It has been informed that in the first phase, illegal residents will be deported along with those who do not renew their visas. In the second phase, those with Afghan citizenship will be deported, in the third phase, those with proof of residence cards will be deported,” the APP report said, adding that the interior ministry had devised the plan in consultation with stakeholders and the Afghan government.
“In the meantime, the ministry has also issued directives to the concerned to compile a record of Afghans living without permits and prepare a transportation plan to bring them to the Afghan border.
“Apart from checking the records of all the Afghans residing in the country, the concerned officials were directed to quickly deal with the applications filed regarding the registration of Afghans,” the report concluded.
Today’s development comes as the most recent in the state’s crackdown on Afghan refugees.
September has seen an alarming rise in the rounding up and detention of Afghan refugees. The government cites illegal immigration and rising crime as the reasons behind the crackdown.
Around 1.3m Afghans are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Police and politicians have said a recent round-up targets only those without legal status and is in response to rising crime and poor regulation of immigration that is straining resources.
At least 700 Afghans have been arrested since early September in Karachi alone — 10 times more than in August — and hundreds more in the other cities, according to official police figures.
Meanwhile, Afghans say the arrests have been indiscriminate.
They accuse police of extorting money and ignoring legal documents while pointing to rising anti-Afghan sentiment as prolonged economic hardship burdens Pakistani households and tensions rise between Islamabad and Kabul’s new Taliban government.
Crackdown rattles Afghans in Pakistan
AFP Published September 29, 2023
PEOPLE gather at the tea shop at an Afghan refugee camp in Karachi.
— AFP
KARACHI: The cow had been slaughtered and bags of rice purchased, but young bride Wahida’s nuptials were cut short when her groom was arrested on their wedding day, one of hundreds caught in a recent crackdown on Afghans living in Pakistan.
The 20-year-old now lives with her in-laws at the Afghan Muhajir aid camp in Karachi, but without her husband-to-be, a registered refugee.
“We are without hope,” the groom’s mother, Safar Gul, told AFP. “The police took away our son. What can we do, they have the power.” Faizur Rehman, 22, was arrested “just because he was Afghan”, another relative named Zulaikha said.
Around 1.3 million are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Police say action only aimed at illegal immigrants; lawyers helpless to help those without documents
Police and politicians have said a recent round-up targets only those without legal status and is in response to rising crime and poor regulation of immigration that is straining resources.
At least 700 Afghans have been arrested since early September in Karachi alone — 10 times more than in August — and hundreds more in the other cities, according to official police figures.
Afghans say the arrests have been indiscriminate.
They accuse police of extorting money and ignoring legal documents, while pointing to rising anti-Afghan sentiment as prolonged economic hardship burdens Pakistani households and tensions rise between Islamabad and Kabul’s new Taliban government.
An estimated 600,000 Afghans have arrived since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021.
Lawyers have said the police operation has been complicated by registration cards for vast numbers of documented Afghans expiring at the end of June, although their status remains in place until the government rules on their renewal.
Lawyer Moniza Kakar said she can do little for Afghans who do not have documents, and that those recently deported include the sick and poor, as well as human rights defenders and women students.
More than 1,800 Afghans were deported from Karachi last year, city police said, and nearly 1,700 have been arrested so far in 2023.
But Kakar, along with the several other lawyers giving free legal help to Afghans, said the vast majority in this sweep are documented, compared to roughly a quarter rounded up in past crackdowns.
“Our action is purely aimed at illegal immigrants,” Karachi police chief Khadim Rind told AFP, adding that allegations of arrests of legal document holders and bribe-taking should be investigated.
Afghan consul general Syed Abdul Jabbar said Afghans in Pakistan were paying the price for disputes between Kabul and Islamabad.
Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2023
KARACHI: The cow had been slaughtered and bags of rice purchased, but young bride Wahida’s nuptials were cut short when her groom was arrested on their wedding day, one of hundreds caught in a recent crackdown on Afghans living in Pakistan.
The 20-year-old now lives with her in-laws at the Afghan Muhajir aid camp in Karachi, but without her husband-to-be, a registered refugee.
“We are without hope,” the groom’s mother, Safar Gul, told AFP. “The police took away our son. What can we do, they have the power.” Faizur Rehman, 22, was arrested “just because he was Afghan”, another relative named Zulaikha said.
Around 1.3 million are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Police say action only aimed at illegal immigrants; lawyers helpless to help those without documents
Police and politicians have said a recent round-up targets only those without legal status and is in response to rising crime and poor regulation of immigration that is straining resources.
At least 700 Afghans have been arrested since early September in Karachi alone — 10 times more than in August — and hundreds more in the other cities, according to official police figures.
Afghans say the arrests have been indiscriminate.
They accuse police of extorting money and ignoring legal documents, while pointing to rising anti-Afghan sentiment as prolonged economic hardship burdens Pakistani households and tensions rise between Islamabad and Kabul’s new Taliban government.
An estimated 600,000 Afghans have arrived since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021.
Lawyers have said the police operation has been complicated by registration cards for vast numbers of documented Afghans expiring at the end of June, although their status remains in place until the government rules on their renewal.
Lawyer Moniza Kakar said she can do little for Afghans who do not have documents, and that those recently deported include the sick and poor, as well as human rights defenders and women students.
More than 1,800 Afghans were deported from Karachi last year, city police said, and nearly 1,700 have been arrested so far in 2023.
But Kakar, along with the several other lawyers giving free legal help to Afghans, said the vast majority in this sweep are documented, compared to roughly a quarter rounded up in past crackdowns.
“Our action is purely aimed at illegal immigrants,” Karachi police chief Khadim Rind told AFP, adding that allegations of arrests of legal document holders and bribe-taking should be investigated.
Afghan consul general Syed Abdul Jabbar said Afghans in Pakistan were paying the price for disputes between Kabul and Islamabad.
Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2023
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