Police target unregistered immigrant children for evacuation

The Punjab Police has declared that unregistered children of immigrants listed with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will now be treated as illegal immigrants, necessitating their deportation from the province.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar has directed field officers to expedite the evacuation of all illegal immigrants, regardless of their inclusion in the provided lists. Expressing frustration over the slow pace of deportation, Dr Anwar emphasised the need for a more rapid and efficient process.

Meanwhile, out of the 300 immigrants evicted so far, a majority hailed from South Punjab, particularly the Multan and DG Khan divisions. The IGP chaired a video-link conference with all senior police officers to address the challenges and discuss strategies for accelerated action.

Read Punjab Police to deport unregistered immigrant children

The video-link conference was attended by Additional IG Special Branch Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional IG Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Waseem Sial, all RPOs, CPOs, and DPOs. Senior officers, including Additional IG Investigation Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, DIG Operations Punjab Waqas Nazir, AIG Operations Dr Asad Ejaz Malhi and AIG Admin Ammara Athar, were also present.

IGP Dr Anwar stressed the importance of coordination among special branch, CTD, security agencies, and intelligence sources for a more efficient evacuation process.

He directed officers to ensure a peaceful evacuation for all immigrants, whether included in lists or not, and to closely monitor those attempting to hide by migrating between districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2023.