Bugti says aliens can’t take part in politics

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Friday said the government was in the process of deporting 10 foreign nationals for their involvement in the politics ahead of the general elections, stressing that politics was a total no-go area for all foreigners.

Addressing a news conference here, the minister said that there was terrorist threat against some politicians during the electioneering for the Feb 8 elections, adding that the government could not prevent the political leaders from going to public.

At the presser, Bugti unveiled the government’s policy on the refugees having the Afghan Citizen Card, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Card or the refugee status.

“No such refugee will be allowed to participate in any kind of political activity in Pakistan,” he declared. “Politicking is the right of Pakistanis alone and they will participate in the political activities in the wake of general elections in February. The government is hunting the foreigners who are involved in political activities and they will be deported straightaway without any relaxation,” he added.

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“Even if they have Proof of Residence (PoR) Card, Afghan Citizen Card, UNHCR Card and the refugee status or tourist or the business visas, no-one will be spared. “Around 10 people have been identified initially, and the number is growing, and they are being deported.”

The minister said that there were general threats to the political leadership, but the interior ministry only received a specific threat to Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, he added that the caretaker government was fully determined to hold the elections peacefully.

“Threats are generally present on the occasion of elections. Threats have been received regarding Maulana Fazlur Rehman,” Bugti said. “Political leaders go to the people, join public processions but we cannot stop them. We will provide security for the elections.”
In response to a question, the minister said that services of paramilitary forces would be provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the elections.

“Although the paramilitary forces are engaged in different operations, yet maximum security will be ensured for the general elections,” he added. To another question, Bugti stressed that the country had to become “a hard state” as due to its soft-state approach in the past, aliens managed to easily get fake immigration documents.

Read More: ‘1m illegal aliens’ to be deported by next month

“Pakistan will have to become a hard state one day. How long will we be a soft state?” He said that all fake documents and identity cards came under the definition of identity theft. “Such aliens are now working in our urban centres and they are not even in the tax net. They are even smuggling goods from abroad, which has badly hit Pakistan’s economy.”

Continuing, he said that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) had become a security institution therefore, it had to be headed by an officer of the rank of lieutenant general. The sitting NADRA chairman, an army officer, had taken an initiative to reform the authority, he added.

He said that the Foreign Office had taken the Afghan government into confidence on the issue of repatriation of Afghan refugees. So far, more than 200,000 people had left the country while 90% of them were returning voluntarily.