Pakistan

Saudi Arabia recovers over 12,000 Pakistani passports from Afghan nationals

Interior ministry constitutes high-level committee to investigate the matter

News Desk October 13, 2023

PHOTO: FILE

Saudi Arabian authorities disclosed that they have successfully retrieved over 12,000 Pakistani passports from Afghan nationals, Express News reported.

According to details, authorities in Riyadh have informed Islamabad about the matter which has raised questions on the performance of national institutions.

Sources disclosed that these spurious passports were allegedly procured by Afghan citizens through multiple passport centres operating within Pakistan.

The Ministry of Interior has constituted a high-level committee dedicated to scrutinising the matter.

Comprising representatives from the Interior Ministry, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and sensitive agencies, the committee's mandate encompasses the identification of individuals involved in the issuance of fake passports and the compilation of a list of those involved.

Subsequent legal proceedings will be initiated against these individuals in accordance with the country's laws, the sources added.

The development follows the government's issuance of an ultimatum, instructing all illegal foreign residents in Pakistan to depart the country by the end of October.

The move prompted the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) to take exceptions with regard to Afghan profiling with “narrow view of national security”.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) said that the Afghan nationals staying legally in Pakistan will neither be harassed nor arrested.

Last week, the evacuation of Afghan citizens living illegally in Pakistan commenced, with 16 trucks transporting 20 families arriving at the Torkham border. Once legal requirements are met, these 20 families, comprising 350 people, will be allowed to enter Afghanistan.

Islamabad has hosted millions of refugees for decades and at one point five million Afghan refugees were residing in Pakistan. Some estimates suggested that there were still close to four million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. However, the count of individuals possessing valid refugee cards, as per official records, is considerably lower.