KARACHI: The Sindh government has established a control room within the Sindh Home Department’s office to oversee the process of evacuating illegal immigrants from the province.
The control room will operate continuously from October 31 to November 3, as outlined in the notification. Its primary responsibility is to monitor the situation and ensure the orderly execution of the evacuation process throughout the province.
The Sindh government has emphasized its commitment to safeguarding the rights of all immigrants, irrespective of their legal status. However, it has also made it clear that it will not tolerate illegal immigration and will take action against those who violate the law.
The evacuation of illegal immigrants from Sindh is part of a broader initiative by the Pakistani government to combat illegal immigration. The government has expressed concerns about the security and economic implications of illegal immigration and is determined to take measures to address this issue.
Pakistan has set a deadline of November 1 for all illegal immigrants, including a substantial number of Afghans, to leave the country voluntarily or face forcible expulsion. Many of the 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan lack legal documentation. Islamabad alleges that Afghan nationals have been involved in numerous suicide bombings in Pakistan this year.
Pakistan has been a host to the largest number of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979, with a reported total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees in the country. Some 20,000 or more Afghans who fled the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 are in Pakistan, awaiting processing of their applications for US Special Immigration Visas (SIVs) or resettlement in the United States as refugees.
Reports indicate that Afghans under trial or convicted of serious crimes will not be repatriated. Additionally, district administration, police, prosecution, and jail administration will be granted special authority to arrest and deport illegal Afghan citizens starting from November 1. Detained Afghans in any of the four provinces will be held in special centers during this process.
The United States has urged Pakistan to allow Afghans seeking protection to enter the country, and the US State Department has encouraged Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, to coordinate with international humanitarian organizations to provide humanitarian assistance.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated over the past few years, with accusations of militants operating from Afghan territory being a significant point of contention. The Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling group, denies these allegations.
