PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has asked Afghan immigrants living illegally in Peshawar to leave within a month, Peshawar DCO Siraj Ahmed Khan has said.
“Nearly 400,000 illegal Afghan immigrants live in Peshawar and the provincial government cannot bear the burden anymore,” Khan told a press conference on Wednesday. “They must leave by May 25.”
Once the deadline lapses, illegal immigrants that continue to live in Peshawar will be imprisoned and deported through the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham. “At the moment, we have implemented Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Afghan citizens in the city but after the deadline they will be treated under Section 188.”
He said that currently, the deadline is only applicable to the provincial capital but after the deportation of illegal immigrants from the city, it will be extended to other parts of the province.
Khan said that committees were operating on a micro level in Peshawar to collect data about illegal Afghan immigrants and will be able to evacuate them after one month.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.
COMMENTS (20)
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hold on your hearts afghan citizens who have come legally will be permitted to stay in its own land up to 2017, update your information. If, Afghan Refugee Program finishes means the earning of Pak Government will dramatically decline to the lowest rate not only the government but the multinational org such as UNHCR, IRC and other big organization where most of thier projects are about Afghans, so it means all of them will be shut down? Do you guys think that Afghans are living here for free ? What amount does Pak Gov charges on behalf of a single Afghan? My advice in general is to please live peacefully and let others to be relax, don't play politics its not the game of your age.
The thing is that KPK govt hasnt clarified as to where should they go once they leave Peshawar. Now naturally, as it happens, people who leave Peshawar head to Karachi, if anywhere. KPK govt should clarify there stance and should make it clear that they are asking the refugees to actually leave Pak. This won't be fair on Karachi or anywhere else in Pakistan, for that matter.
I am not very sure about what the Pakistanis are talking about? Some are shouting Pashtuns , some are shouting Muslim ummah and then there are some who are opposing everything.
It's a matter of illegal immigration. They were given refuge by Pakistani government in dark days and now that the situation has improved in Afghanistan it's upto the government again to decide that whether they still want to play host or it's time to rehabilitate the refugees back to their own country.
Pashtuns who are Pakistani citizens will continue to be Pakistanis and Pashtuns who are have come from Afghanistan should now go back in case Pakistani government don't want to host them anymore. What's the confusion then?
Pashtuns are not that dumb to understand that unity is in thier interest. They are fully aware that this is due to thier fragmentation that various global and regional powers are using them as canno fodder for thier nefarious and evil designs in the name of national and strategic interests. More importantly, trade and the recent revolution in the information technology has brought the people on both sides further closer. My friend, you are living in the fool 's paradise. You are still unconsious that you are living in a World where national frontiers are increasingly becoming blurred and various regions have either fully integrated or have adopted to integrate. So why people who share , common language, culture, history and territory and more importantly who have blood relations will not want integration with each other?
u liar, buddy get out of your delusions. It is a Pashtun government in KPK that has decided to kick out their "brothers" and those from the imagined one Pashtun nation. Only the Islamists will object to this decision - and only because they're kicking out fellow muslims. Pashtuns, especially Pakistani Pashtuns are catching on to the lies that Afghans yell from across the international border. How many times do you want to be slapped by Pakistani Pashtuns? BTW, Gandhara has as much to do with Punjabis (hindkowans/potwaris) as they do to modern-day Pashtuns. Either way, Pashtuns as a "nation" did not exist back then. It would be like anglo-saxon europeans claiming that the native american culture is theirs, or Pakistanis or Indians claiming they existed 5,000 years ago as the Indus Valley Civilization.
Pashtuns families should not be seperated for the sake of meaningless social constructs like state, borders, etc. People posting above have no right to insult Pakhtuns. Pakhtuns whether in Kabul or Peshawar are united and no one can divide them through such kind of inhuman laws imposed by aliens. As far as culture and development of the Pakhtuns is concerned, my friends should know that Sher Shah was the one who built the major highway from Peshawar to Delhi. The statues of Buddha in Bamyan, the Ghandahara Archeticures and legacy in areas surrounding Peshawar and Jalalabad, and hundered of other areas in the Pakhtun Land (Afghanistan and Pakhtunkhwa) points to thier advanced culture and society.
I don't know whether to feel good or sad about it. It is certainly sad as most of these people are not rich enough. But on the flip side, I also think that unless they go back to their country and fight for a better future against Taliban and warlords, their might never be enough stability in their own country and they will keep wandering from one place to other.
THis is long overdue. Pakistan does not need Afghan refugees, they need to return to their own country which is Afghanistan. In fact not only Peshawar but government of Karachi should start taking similiar initiatives are there are numerous illegal Afghans in Karachi active in the crime trade
@ET: Instead of showing that picture .. you could have shown a different one as not all of them are begging like that.. You should investigate if you have no knowledge about this .. Majority of them are higher middle class and many are super rich. More than 20,000 Afghan families are living in and around Islamabad which is one of the most expensive Pakistani city to live in .. One can see every 3rd house owned by them in posh areas like Hayatabad Town Peshawar. where the house prices are between 1-5 Crore.
@javed
but muslims should be free to live everywhere, be it in islamic countries or secular countries, but non-muslims are not allowed to live in islamic countries?
@let there be peace:
Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! --Homer Simpson
The sooner they leave the better. Every one of them should be sent back. They are a big drain on the weak economy f Pakistan. They misuse our services; share our health facilities, roads, schools, energy and everything that is being done for our citizens. They are often involved in heinous crimes, terrorism and espionage. All must be pushed out to their country so that they can reap the fruits of speedily developing Afghanistan under the much celebrated development program of USA and NATO ($$$)
Good move.. they should have taken this step long time ago....
Just yesterday, on these pages, one Dr Jamil Chaudhari explained to me in a very scholarly manner that Afghanistan and Pakistan are actually one nation and Afghans and central Asians are same people as Punjabis, sindhis and Baloch which are different from south asians; and that Afghans and central asians brought 'higher' culture and civilization to Pakistanis. I urge authorities in Peshawar to take note of such distinguished scholars and submit to the higher culture instead of dividing the ummah.
This is nonsense. We are Muslims. All Muslims are welcome in the land of pure. This land is meant for Muslims.
Please remember, you are all part of the same ummah
Pashtun Unity!
Good move by the local govt! Since Afghans hate Pakistan so much they should all pack up and return. Not just from Peshawar but from wherever they are in Pak.
Peshawar city really cannot bear the burden of all these people. Costs of living have gone up considerably, and the afghanis do not believe in maintenence, which has lead to serious development issues in various parts of the cities