The number of foreign nationals living in Pakistan illegally is not exactly known, but the figure is said to run into millions. Notwithstanding the Afghan refugees — a majority of whom are registered and thus not counted among illegal immigrants — a large number of Bangladeshis and Burmese as well as Arabs, Africans, Chechens, Uzbeks and Tajiks have been living in Pakistan, for decades. According to the defunct National Aliens Registration Authority i.e. NARA, illegal immigrants belonging to 78 countries have, over the years, found refuge within the country. Set up in 2001, NARA failed to perform its core function of registering the alien population in the country and was dissolved into NADRA in September 2015.
Much has been written on the miserable life of the sizeable number of these stateless people and on the damaging impact their illegal status is having on the national economy and internal security, in particular. On paper, refugees and illegal immigrants enjoy fundamental rights, including legal protection, under Article 4 of the Constitution, and their children are entitled to Pakistani citizenship if they were born on the Pakistani soil in line with the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951.
However, the reality is that the illegal immigrants are deprived of even basic rights to health and education, let alone the right to labour or housing — primarily for want of any identity papers, if not a national identity card. For instance, even a third-generation of Bengali immigrants is not recognised as citizens of Pakistan. A majority of youngsters from this community are engaged in low-paid jobs in factories, or run small businesses like pan shops — however living in a state of constant fear and insecurity. The plight of the Burmese, or Rohingya, community is not much different. It’s in the interest of the state too that such people are allowed a chance to integrate into our society to become its productive members.
There is thus the need for the authorities to devise a mechanism whereby the illegal immigrants are registered and given rights as per their status. Therefore, the interior ministry’s decision to register all foreigners in the country is a welcome development.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2021.
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