Urging illegal immigrants living in Pakistan to return to their countries voluntarily , Caretaker Interior Minister Senator Sarfraz Bugti on Thursday said that the government had finalised the plan for repatriating such individuals.
The statement comes as only a few days remain to the government’s October 31 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan. Earlier this month, the government gave an ultimatum to all undocumented immigrants, including Afghan nationals, to leave Pakistan by the deadline, or risk imprisonment and deportation to their respective countries.
The decision was taken in an apex committee meeting headed by Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and attended by Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, among others. The committee also decided that movement across the border would be subject to passports and visas, while electronic Afghan identity cards (or e-tazkiras) would only be accepted until Oct 31.
Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior a day earlier, Bugti said the government’s message about action against illegal residents was misunderstood, adding that its deportation drive was against all those living illegally in the country, not just Afghans.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, the interim interior minister said that the plan for the repatriation of illegal immigrants had been finalised. “All our preparations in this regard have been completed,” he said.
He said that “holding centres” had been formed in the provinces as well as Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. He said that illegal immigrants would be provided medical facilities and food.
Bugti assured that women, children and the elderly would be treated with respect. “But along with that we won’t comprise on any illegal citizens living in Pakistan after Nov 1,” he said.
The minister again reiterated that he was talking about those individuals who did not have any valid travel documents or papers.
“So in the first stage we will expel them. We have made holding centres for them. They will not be sent to jail […] and from the centre they will be transported out of Pakistan,” he said.
The minister further said that those being expelled from the country would only be allowed to carry an amount of 50,000 in the currency of the country they were being repatriated to. He said that funds exceeding this number could only be shifted through proper banking channels.
“A modality is being prepared in this regard and it will be finalised by today or tomorrow,” he said. “In the case of the Afghans, Afghan nationals can take 50,000 in Afghan currency per family. Permission will not be allowed for more than this.”
Bugti also issued a warning to Pakistanis “facilitating” such illegal immigrants. He said that those hiding illegal immigrants would be violating the law and the government would take strict action in this regard.
“So this is again my appeal to those who are living here illegally: the deadline for voluntary return is till November 1. They should return voluntarily rather than us taking action.”
He said that the state had done geo-fencing and identified areas where illegal immigrants were residing. “We know where they are. They are in villages, in Pakistan’s metropolitan cities, in different small cities. The government has complete know-how about where they are.”
At the same time, Bugti conceded repatriation plan was a “challenging task” but said that the plan would be implemented after November 1. He again encouraged illegal immigrants to return voluntarily.
“Nothing is a challenge for the state nor can anything hide from it,” the minister said, highlighting that synergy among institutions would help “turn our state into a hard state from a soft one which was our right”.
More to follow
from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/D3k7iMI
No comments: