The refugees involved in criminal activities must be apprehended
FAISALABAD: This refers to media reports that Pakistan’s security and intelligence agencies have arrested six operatives of the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, involved in terrorist and subversive activities in Balochistan, including targeted killings. Approximately 1.7 million Afghan nationals are reported to be living in Pakistan. This influx of Afghan refugees contributed to the rise of the Kalashnikov culture, sectarian violence, religious fundamentalism, drug trafficking, illegal cross-border smuggling, environmental issues and organised crime. Militants from Afghanistan sometimes enter and cross over into Pakistan’s border regions for shelter. In 2003, around 246 Taliban members were arrested inside a hospital in Quetta after getting wounded during fighting inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has long sheltered Afghan refugees but, in return for its hospitality, has repeatedly been stabbed in the back. Those refugees involved in criminal activities must be apprehended. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has ordered NADRA to re-verify CNICs of 25 million families in a bid to identify those living here illegally. One hopes this exercise helps to identify all illegal aliens living in the country so that action can be taken against them.
Engr Mansoor Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2016.
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