New SoP: Interior minister alters rules for accepting deportees

ISLAMABAD: With deportations of Pakistanis from different countries reaching a record high, the government on Monday decided that no deportee will be accepted unless their nationality is verified.

“We will not accept any deportee unless their nationality is verified and detailed reasons for their deportation are provided,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a high-level meeting on Monday.

A committee comprising senior officials of interior and foreign ministries were tasked to develop a new set of rules and procedures for deporting Pakistanis.

Nisar further directed Pakistani missions abroad to link issuance of temporary travel documents for deportees to verification of their nationalities.

“A comprehensive policy paper regarding deportees will be sent to all missions abroad within one week,” the interior minister said.

The shift in policy comes days after APS attack suspect Usman Ghani was deported from Italy. However, officials told Nisar on Monday that Ghani had no connection with the terror attack.

Worrying trend

Ghani’s case notwithstanding, data obtained from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) shows a worrying trend of year-on-year increase in deportation of Pakistanis over the past four years.



Since 2011, an estimated 280,000 Pakistanis have been deported from 55 countries around the world. In 2011 15,211 Pakistanis were sent back. This figure tripled in 2012 when 55,279 Pakistanis were deported. It jumped to 67,330 in 2013 and then to 78,409 in 2014.

In 2015, so far, 45,123 Pakistanis have been deported from 55 countries across the world.

Majority of Pakistanis have been deported from Gulf countries with Saudi Arabia leading with over 97,122 Pakistanis deported in the past four years. UAE comes in second, having deported over 40,000 Pakistanis. Over 28,000 were deported from Iran while around 20,123 Pakistanis were deported from Oman. Some 8,711 Pakistanis have been deported from the United Kingdom, which has cracked down on illegal migrants. However, only 430 Pakistanis have been deported from the US.

Madrassa registration

The government and clerics have reached an agreement on registration forms for madrassas. A statement from the ministry said that the process of registering madrassas will start soon.

The interior minister also directed officials to complete the process of merging the National Crisis Management Cell into National Counter Terrorism Authority within a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2015.