Deadline for illegal foreign nationals expires tomorrow: Bugti rules out human tragedy during deportation

ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR: The caretaker minister for interior said on Sunday the government is encouraging the “voluntary return” of aliens till the November 1 deadline after which the state will commence its operation to expel them. The government is determined to keep the country in order, he said.

Speaking to Shahzad Iqbal at Geo News’ programme “Naya Pakistan” on Sunday, Bugti said that there would be no chances of human tragedy with the repatriation of illegal migrants to their countries.

It is pertinent to know that the caretaker government, earlier this month, had directed all “aliens” — including 1.73 million Afghan nationals — to leave the country following a series of terrorist attacks in which Afghan nationals were found to be responsible for 14 of the 24 suicide bombings.

The federal minister also said that 15,000 to 20,000 illegal foreigners left Pakistan voluntarily between Thursday and Friday.

Expressing his views on the total number of foreigners in the country, Bugti highlighted that there are more than three million such individuals residing in Pakistan, including illegal aliens, those with proof of registration (POR) and refugees.

“All provincial governments will be part of the operation [...] committees have been formed at divisional, district levels,” he said in a response to a question regarding the deportation of illegal foreigners.

“Geo-mapping has been completed [to locate illegal foreigners]. The government will target aliens wherever they are,” he added.

The expulsion of aliens, he also said, would be carried out in phases with illegal foreigners — people with no travel documents and those who breached Nadra’s records to present themselves as Pakistani citizens — deported in the first phase.

Meanwhile, Afghan nationality card holders, people possessing POR and refugees registered with UNHCR will be expelled in the second phase.

“Everyone [illegal foreigners] will have to go back,” he added.

Commenting on the issue being given an ethnic angle, Bugti said: “This is not limited to Afghan citizens [...] We mention Afghanistan as unfortunately, most illegal foreigners are from there.”

Responding to a question pertaining to the implementation of the government’s policy to expel illegal foreigners, Bugti said: “Yes there will be raids [...] We have established holding centres. Illegal foreigners will be brought to these centres where they will be taken care of and provided for.”

“Authorities have been directed to treat women, children and the elderly with the utmost respect,” he said, adding, “The illegal foreigners will be shifted to the border [from the holding centres] in three to four weekly batches.”

Hundreds of families are leaving for Afghanistan via Torkham daily as the government has set up three facilitation centres in Peshawar, Landikotal and Haripur.

“They are being facilitated at these centres while leaving via Torkham. The facility for Peshawar can hold around 2,000 people while the two other centres are meant for 400 persons each,” Additional Chief Secretary for Home Abid Majeed told The News.

Officials said there was no night stay facility at these places as these were meant to facilitate the large number of families for a few hours on their way back home.

The government had announced a crackdown on all the illegal foreigners after November 1. It was, however, made clear that there will be no action against those possessing the Proof of Registration cards by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees or the Afghan Citizens Cards.

An official said that if any action was taken against a documented Afghan, he can approach the authorities on toll free number of 1700. The same helpline can be used to identify the undocumented foreigners.

The Home Department has set up a central control room where Grade 17 or above officers will represent different departments including police, district administration, intelligence agencies, Nadra, Passport and Immigration and Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Along with police, Counter-Terrorism Department and district administration have constituted committees to collect details of the undocumented foreigners in their respective areas.

An official said cops and other teams had been directed not to touch any Afghan who had either Proof of Registration (PoR) card or Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) during the campaign.

However, there are still complaints that legally staying Afghans were being harassed. After a few complaints, there were demands for setting up a special desk with toll free number in case of any action against the registered Afghans.

Special committees of different departments and elected representatives have been constituted at the local level to collect details if the Afghans living in an area have any document or otherwise.

All the deputy and assistant commissioners, tehsildars and patwaris have been directed to collect details of properties and businesses owned by the undocumented foreigners.

Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans, who were born in Pakistan and had hardly gone to their homeland in their entire life, are upset as the deadline for the undocumented foreigners is going to expire tomorrow (Tuesday).

Thousands of Afghans, including young men and women, who never went to Afghanistan since their birth in Pakistan, are leaving via Torkham daily. Reports said over 70,000 Afghans have returned to their country in the last few weeks.

“I was born here and so were my siblings and cousins. We have never visited our village or country in the last many years and always considered Peshawar and Pakistan as our home,” said one Saleem Khan, 27, who was boarding a truck along with all his family members and household items on Ring Road near Tor Baba to leave for Torkham.

There are thousands of others who have been living in this city since birth.

“I don’t know why we could not make the PoR card or any other document for our family. Probably we had no idea that this is something illegal,” said a pushcart vendor Ziarat Gul who too was packing up with family due to fear of action as he had no document to legalize his stay in Pakistan.Meanwhile, as the general elections are drawing closer, Sarfraz Bugti has said that the interim government is in contact with all political parties as it has “no favourites”. He said the caretaker government is also in contact with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), brushing aside the impression of giving favour to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“It is our [caretaker government’s] responsibility to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) [in the electoral process],” he said while reassuring that the interim setup had abided by the instructions given by the electoral body on transfers and postings of officers, bureaucrats.

“Whatever the ECP’s directions are, we will abide by it,” he added.

Bugti’s remarks come as the poll organising body has directed the federal government to transfer Inspector General Police (IG), Islamabad.

“The IG Islamabad is performing well [...] It is my wish that he continues to work [as federal capital’s police chief],” the minister said while reassuring that the interim government would follow the ECP’s directives regarding the IGP Islamabad’s transfer.

The ECP on September 21 announced that general elections in the country would take place in the last week of January 2024.