Sindh govt to register Afghan migrants

There are approximately 400,000 Afghan migrants in Sindh, just 63,000 of them are registered

After years of dilly-dallying, the Sindh government has finally decided to take up the task of registering persons of Afghan origin residing in the province and thereafter, setting up camps for their accommodation.

The home department, after consulting the relevant federal and investigation agencies, has started gathering data on Afghan settlements across the province. Following data collection, those migrants given security clearance will be registered and shifted to camps established to accommodate them. Their residence will then be confined to those camps.

According to home department officials, no authentic data about persons of Afghan origin, including registered, unregistered and those classified as illegal migrants, in the province is available and this can lead to legal issues. Under this initiative, the government plans to document all registered, unregistered and illegal Afghan migrants residing in Sindh.

It has been several years since Afghans migrants began pouring into Sindh. However, the last time an initiative was taken to register them properly was as far back as 2003. It is estimated that 400,000 persons of Afghan origin are residing in Sindh at present and just 63,000 of them are registered.