Jumping the border: 137 Afghans, five Iranians rounded up

They were found travelling without papers

QUETTA/ HYDERABAD:

Law enforcement agencies have arrested 137 Afghan and five Iranian citizens from Chagai and Panjgur districts of Balochistan and Hyderabad.

A Frontier Corps spokesperson said on Wednesday that the FC’s patrolling teams took 121 Afghan nationals into custody near Sia Reg, Reko Diq, around 60km northwest of Nukukndi, which shares its border with Iran and Afghanistan.

The men were handed over to the Balochistan Levies in Chagai, the spokesperson said. There is a large Afghan refugee camp in Chagai district and the refugees own property in the area. The arrested Afghan nationals were later handed over to the FIA, he said.

Balochistan National Party Information Secretary Agha Hassan said that the UNHCR had failed in repatriating all Afghan nationals. He said it was very easy for the refugees to obtain forged legal documents and move to cities. Many of them were even working at NADRA and Passport offices, he alleged.

Separately, paramilitary troops arrested five Iranian citizens near Panjgur, a district that shares its border with Iran. A spokesperson said that they were travelling in a car and were intercepted by security forces at a check post in Panjgur. They did not have valid travel documents on them so they were handed over to the FIA, he said.

Hyderabad police have also arrested 16 people, believed to be Afghan nationals, in raids in various areas of Hyderabad district on Tuesday.

SSP Pir Farid Jan Sarhindi said that they had arrested them during raids in Hala Naka, Pathan Colony and Railway Station. Residents of these areas are mostly Pakhtun, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2014.