Database in the works: Afghans asked to register with police

Data of refugee families, students and teachers in schools and seminaries being collected across Peshawar district

PESHAWAR: The city’s Afghan refugees have been asked to get themselves registered with local police stations in order to prepare a computerised database of Afghan families residing in the district.

Forms are already being distributed in refugee camps and among Afghan nationals living in residential areas. The registration drive was launched in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Army Public School on December 16 which claimed 150 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

Making it count

An official of the Hayatabad police station told The Express Tribune the drive has almost been completed in the area and 1,820 families living in the jurisdiction of the police station have been registered, while another 274 Afghan families residing in the limits of Tatara police station have also been registered.



“Mostly affluent Afghans, including traders and transporters, are residing in Hayatabad,” he said.

Similarly, according to the records of Mattani police, 594 houses have been rented by Afghan refugees in the area, while an estimated 6,000 families are living in the jurisdiction of Badhaber police station and forms are being distributed among them. Moreover, around 5,000 families are living in the jurisdiction of Sarband and Pishthakhara police stations, while 161 families reside in the limits of Khan Raziq (Kabuli) police station.

According to the police, a drive has also been launched for the first time in the province to obtain a complete record of Afghan students and teachers in Peshawar’s schools and religious seminaries. “First we collected data on refugee families but now we have been directed to collect the data of students and teachers in schools and madrassahs as well,” said a police official.

He was of the opinion that such information should have been collected long ago. “No foreign national should be allowed to reside in a country unregistered and without providing their details to the government,” he said.

“For the past three decades, the arrival of Afghan refugees has raised the province’s crime rate manifold. If they are expelled, policing will become easier,” claimed the official.

At the receiving end

An Afghan national residing in a refugee camp told The Express Tribune forms had been distributed among them. According to him, the form sought details of the number of family members, number of weapons the family had, if any, as well as the name of the family’s head. “We received the forms but now the camp administration has announced that they are erroneous and other forms will be issued soon,” he claimed.

Another Afghan refugee complained of police harassment in the province-wide crackdown the government has launched. Suleman said even those Afghan nationals who are residing legally are being arrested. “My friend was arrested a week ago despite the fact that he had a Proof of Registration card with him. Yakatoot police even confiscated his mobile phone which is worth Rs37,000,” said Suleman.

He added his friend was deported but he came back to Peshawar because his family is there. “When he called the police station to get his phone back, they told him to come and get it, but if he goes there he will be arrested again,” added Suleman.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.