• More than 1,600 already repatriated, over 5,000 held for processing before heading to border
• Officials maintain they are following international laws on illegal aliens
• Afghans complain of ‘rushed’ expulsions
LAHORE / KARACHI / RAWALPINDI: As part of the ongoing process, 1,636 Afghan nationals were deported from Punjab and Sindh on Sunday.
The largest transfer took place in Punjab where 5,111 other Afghan nationals were transported to the transit camps or holding centres across the province for repatriation, including 2,301 children and 1,120 women.
A majority of them carried Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) that NADRA had issued them after getting each case verified from the FIA, police and other agencies.
An official told Dawn security agencies had identified 100,000 Afghans living illegally in over 150 ‘Afghan Colonies’ across the province. He said there are four categories of Afghan residents.
One of them are refugees settled all across the country under the UNHCR mandate.
Being a signatory to the Geneva Convention, Pakistan is bound to grant them legal protection, he said, adding that those are not being repatriated as per the international commitments.
The Afghans with valid legal documents would also not be deported.
The official said that the 100,000, marked to be repatriated, fall under the third and fourth categories.
A majority of them carried ACCs while others did not have any legal document.
In January, the Punjab government had directed them to leave by March 31, he recalled.
“We first located them in more than 150 Afghan Colonies including seven identified in Lahore’s various vicinities, then traced and communicated to them the government’s instruction/decision,” Additional IG Police Punjab Waqas Nazeer told Dawn.
He said it was a tedious task to reach such residents, adding that District Police Officers (DPOs), who were directed to comply with the government’s instructions, on Sunday shifted 1,336 Afghans to the 46 holding centres established across the province.
They were transported to Landi Kotal on designated buses, handed over to the local administration and then deported to Afghanistan the same day.
He also said that police shifted 5,111 other Afghans to the transit camps/holding centres.
Mr Waqas said that after due verification they would also be transported to KP for repatriation to their home country.
