Deportation of illegals challenged in LHC

Petitioners hopeful that the court will allow reasonable time to refugees to seek asylum in Pakistan

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi has directed petitioners to come up with relevant documents to challenge the government’s directive to deport illegal immigrants from Pakistan.

The Registrar's Office objected to not being intimidated about the government’s notification under which the immigrants were asked to leave Pakistan.

As the proceedings commenced, Justice Najafi asked about the relevant documents to which the petitioner’s counsel advocate Izzat Fatima argued that there is no specific notification except a public notice of the press release issued by the federal government.

However, on the direction of the court, advocate Fatima said they would come up with relevant documents by the next date of the hearing.

The petitioners, Khial Noor, Hazrat Ali, and other family members, contended that caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti gave a month for them to leave Pakistan to avoid deportation.

The counsel argued that deporting all refugees without giving them the right to present their case or the right of asylum is a sheer violation of human rights. In her opinion, this could lead to dire consequences for Pakistan.

Speaking in favor of women and children especially, she said they had escaped from Afghanistan due to the threat of persecution and had accepted Pakistan as their new home.

Further, the petitioners are amongst those who grew up in Pakistan only and have no connection whatsoever with Afghanistan. They have been living in Pakistan for decades and consider it their home. Since there is no law to give citizenship to refugee children born in Pakistan, their survival is dependent on the provision of a Proof of Registration (PoR) Card. So, in fact, the petitioners have been living in incredibly precarious conditions and a forced return to Afghanistan could put them at an even greater risk.

The petitioners are hopeful that the court will allow reasonable time to refugees to seek asylum in Pakistan.