Rights bodies demand policy on immigrants

Seek respectful repatriation of Afghan nationals

KARACHI:

A meeting of the independent human rights commissions and representatives of civil society on Monday demanded the government to come up with a clear policy on Afghan immigrants, a press release issued by the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) said on Monday.

They said there should be clear policy on the status of Afghan immigrants and that the government should make sure that all Afghan nationals be repatriated respectfully to their homeland and their stay in Pakistan should be governed under the UN regulations.

SHRC Chairperson Justice (Retd) Majida Razvi and National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Member Anis Haroon co-chaired the meeting that was attended by Sindh Status of Women Commission (SCSW) Chairperson Nuzhat Shirin, Joint Action Committee (a conglomerate of several civil rights organisations) Coordinator Mehnaz Rehman and human rights activists Prof Asghar Dashti, Adam Malik, Shahid Jatoi, Naghma Iqtidar, Abdul Wahid Baloch, Sarah Zaman, Anita Panjani, Jugdesh Ahuja Shireen Ajaz and others.

According to the SHRC statement, the participants expressed serious concern over the government's ignorance to register, monitor and take action against illegal immigrants in the country. They pointed out that Karachi is already overwhelmed with population influx, particularly people from other provinces or even from other countries.

The city's socio-economic and civic infrastructure could not withstand this unchecked tendency hence steps should be taken to stop any further population influx in Sindh.

Ethnic realities of Sindh should be acknowledged and a proper dialogue should be initiated to find a just and lasting solution for peaceful coexistence, they said adding that political parties should stop risking the ethnic balance of the province and particularly in Karachi at the cost of their electoral compromises.

Laws and regulations, governing demography should be revisited and reformed per existing realities, they said adding that the Sindh government is spending huge funds on Rangers, however, the paramilitary force has failed to play an effective role in averting the riots, which disturbed the city life and in many parts of the province for many days recently.

Sindh police should be strengthened and trained on how to deal with such situations, they demanded.

  There should be a distinction between people from other provinces who come as workers and those who are purchasing properties reportedly for strategic reasons, the speakers pointed out.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2022.