Eight FIA teams set up to repatriate Afghan refugees from Punjab
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Afghan people gather to board a bus to return home, after Pakistan gave the last warning to undocumented migrants to leave, at a bus stop in Karachi. — Reuters/File
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LAHORE: In light of the ongoing deportation of illegal refugees, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has set up eight teams for the return of Afghan refugees in Punjab, along with five teams nominated for Lahore and with three teams, which has been reported on Monday.
The Lahore team will be headed by Assistant Director Sajid Amin, Imran Bhatti and Babar Shahr Sheikhupura and Nanakana Sahib teams, while Assistant Director Immigration Rana Bilal will be headed for Kasur.
The spokesman added that Afghan citizens will be kept in shelters in Lahore before sending Afghanistan to Afghanistan.
He added that the refugees will initially be kept in Thokar Niaz Baig, Railway Station, Data Darbar, Sabzi Mandi, and Lari Ada.
This development came in light of the federal government’s decision to deport illegal refugees, including Afghan citizens.
The country has been hosting millions of Afghans for almost five decades. In the past few years, hundreds of them have returned to their country, but still, more than 2.1 million Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and other provinces have been living in other provinces.
Sources in the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (Zafron) say 1.4 million Afghan refugees are legally registered, while 800,000 Afghan citizens have “Afghan Citizens Card” (ACC), but now their establishment is considered illegal.
Pakistan, on March 31, appointed all illegal Afghans as well as ACC card holders as a deadline to return to their country during the growing terrorist incidents in Pakistan.
So far, at least 4,111 foreigners – illegal people – have been deported from Punjab with the help of relevant agencies.
According to a Punjab Police spokesman, more than 5,950 people have been brought to the centers of holding, of which 1,839 are still present.
The spokesman added that 46 such holding centers have been set up throughout the province, five of which are in Lahore.
In a statement, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar has said that all illegal immigrants will be repatriated at all costs.
Identifying that human rights principles and values are being fully implemented during the return process, provincial IGP instructed CCPOs, RPOs and DPOs to accelerate the process and ensure necessary maping, scanning and screening.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan
According to government claims, the total number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is 3 million, all of which are returning home this year under a plan for the deportation of foreign nationals.
Afghan citizens living in Pakistan for decades come in four types, which are as follows.
In the first type, Afghan citizens who fled to Pakistan due to instability in Afghanistan and were given the official status of refugees. In 2007, Pakistan issued evidence of registration (POR) card to these refugees, which now has about 1.3 million. The government issued these cards only once, and from time to time renewing them, the current justification expires on June 30, 2025.
The second type includes Afghan citizens who were issued an Afghan Citizens Card (ACC). In 2016, about 800,000 people received these cards, and they are now being brought back home as part of the deportation efforts.
The third type is Afghan citizens who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban occupation in 2021. These men were sheltered under the International Protocol. While the Pakistani government initially claimed that 600,000 Afghans had arrived after the US withdrawal, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says only 200,000 were officially registered.
The fourth category includes non -documentary Afghan citizens who lack the status of both Purpur and ACC and are not registered as a seeking asylum since the arrival of 2021.
This category also includes those who have married in Pakistan and obtained fake national identity cards. In the past two years, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been canceling such fake identification IDs through its national verification and renewal campaign, now ranging on illegal residents.
