Pakistan gears up for deporting Afghan citizens

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan has put in place arrangements for repatriating Afghan nationals to their homeland, ignoring calls from human rights groups to postpone deportations.

At a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Friday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was informed Afghan citizens would be detained and deported after the March 31 deadline.

The government has already ordered illegal immigrants, including Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders to leave Pakistan by the end of March or face deportations.

Before being deported, Afghan nationals will be held at detention centres set up by the authorities. They will be offered food and healthcare facilities.

Naqvi told participants the federal government was coordinating the repatriation process with the provinces. He promised full support to the provinces.

Officials say a door-to-door awareness campaign about the repatriation programme is ongoing and the mapping of ACC holders has been completed.

A nationwide crackdown would be initiated after the deadline on ACC holders, Dawn quoted an official as saying.

He warned the Pakistani citizens renting out their properties to illegal Afghan nationals would also face consequences.

Search operations would be conducted to track illegal Afghans and their biometric records would be maintained to bar their entry into the country in future.

The government has decided to scrap the identity and travel documents fraudulently obtained by Afghan nations. They will also be subjected to imprisonment and fines along with their abettors.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International regretted the treatment of Afghans by Pakistan, alleging thousands were being harassed, unlawfully detained and forced to leave the country.

In a statement, the rights group said: “The Pakistani government’s plans to arbitrarily and forcibly expel Afghan nationals … will only add to their plight.”

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