Islamabad, Oct 6: Pakistan government has started the process of eviction of illegal Afghan nationals from the country, as it starts implementing its recent announcement when it gave a deadline of November 1, 2023 for all illegal immigrants to leave the country or face arrest and deportation.
Police authorities have started raiding various Afghan refugee camps and other areas housing Afghan nationals, taking into custody hundreds of families who did not have any legal documentation to prove status of stay in Pakistan. Authorities have also started raising down makeshift Afghan refugee camps in Islamabad and other major cities, leaving no other options for Afghans to gather their belongings and move towards the Torkham border to cross over into Afghanistan.
At least 16 trucks carrying a minimum of 20 families had reached the Torkham border on Thursday, while about 40 more families reached there on Friday. “After completion of formalities, these families, which comprise about 1,000 people, will be allowed to enter Afghanistan,” said an official.
“These residents are from an Afghan refugee camp near Margalla Town in Islamabad, which was demolished by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the instructions of the federal government”, the official added.
Till now, at least 503 Afghan refugees have been sent to jail as they failed to provide any legal document as proof of their identity status in the country.
“At least 1,126 people were checked in various operations. Of them, 623 people were released on presentation of legal identification documents. However, 503 of them were sent to jail for not having the necessary documents”, said a police official in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s big decision to crackdown against illegal immigrants has not gone down well with the Afghan Taliban regime, which has termed the decision as “unacceptable”. (IANS)
