Govt firms up action plan for aliens

Readies ‘holding centres’ as crackdown on illegal migrants looms

ISLAMABAD:

The caretaker government finalised plans to expel all illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals, as the October 31 deadline for them to return voluntarily approached, Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Thursday.

The government planned to open several “holding centres” where Illegal immigrants would be kept for documentation before their deportation, Bugti told a press conference. At the centres, the detenu would be taken care of and women and elders will be treated with special respect,” he said.

The government has given all those living illegally in the country until October 31 to leave voluntarily or face deportation. Bugti said that the government would not compromise on its commitment to expel illegal immigrants. “After November 1st, we will not compromise on illegal immigrants,” he said.

“These centres have been named as ‘holding centres’. Illegal immigrants will be kept there,” Bugti told reporters. “They will be provided with medical facilities and food. Children, women and elders will be treated with special respect,” he said.

The illegal immigrants, many of whom have lived in the country for years, would be processed at temporary centres being set up by the government, while those leaving voluntarily would be helped to leave Pakistan. "It is a challenging task [to remove them]," Bugti said.

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According to the repatriation plan, the minister said, all provincial governments, the federal capital administration, Gilgit Baltistan and special areas, would establish centres. “These centres have been named as ‘holding centres’. Illegal immigrants will be kept there,” Bugti told reporters.

“No one will be sent to jail rather they will be put into holding centres. Those without documents will be deported from those centres,” he said. “They will be provided with medical facilities and food. Children, women and elders will be treated with special respect,” he added.

The minister explained that illegal immigrants would be allowed to take with them Rs50,000 cash per family, adding that if they wished to take more money to their country, they would have to use banking channels.

Afghans poured into Pakistan by the millions over decades of conflict during the Soviet invasion, the following civil war and the US-led occupation. Around 1.3 million are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to the United Nations.

Islamabad said a further 1.7 million Afghans were in Pakistan illegally. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans are estimated to have crossed since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021. Police and politicians said the recent round-up was in response to rising crime and strained resources.

Many of the illegal residents had already left the country ahead of the deadline. A spokesman for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government said that 60,000 Afghans had already returned, with queues building at the northern-most border crossing in Torkham.

Undocumented Afghans in the province would be arrested and sent to one of three centres being set up for processing, spokesperson Feroz Jamal said. “It’s a transit point. They cannot stay there for a long time. When the border officials have space, we’ll send them to be deported,” he told AFP.

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Two of the centres are similar to aid tent camps, while the third will be established at government staff accommodation, each capable of holding 5,000 people, a government official who requested not to be named told AFP.

Sarfaraz Bugti told the press conference that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) was collecting data of those involved in theft by making fake identity cards. He assured that stern action would be taken against those officials, who facilitated them.

“The state has complete data of all illegal immigrants. The state knows their whereabouts whether they are living, in villages or metropolitan cities. Therefore, the government once again appeals to them to voluntarily return to their countries otherwise they will face hardships here.”

Responding to a question about complaints of mistreatment, he said that the ministry had established a complaint cell, adding that all forces had been directed to ensure dignity of women and elderly citizens in a firm way but no illegal immigrant would be allowed to live here.

(WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES)