Deportations not Afghan-specific, Jilani tells Muttaqi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani says his meeting with his Afghan counterpart Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi was indeed a ‘good’ one held in a very cordial atmosphere on the sidelines of an international conference organised by China. 

The first high-level bilateral in Tibet on Thursday came at a time when tensions were high in both capitals with Pakistan angry with continued terrorist attacks from across its western borders and Kabul rejecting Pakistan’s new policy of asking all non-registered migrants, the majority which are Afghans, to leave Pakistan by end of the month.

Jilani told The News from Tibet as he prepared to leave, “Mr. Muttaqi emphasised in the meeting that his government was taking all steps to rein in the TTP and in this regard his government had already taken actions by arresting more than 200 TTP elements. He assured me that they will continue to put pressure on them”. 

This is a very important development for Pakistan, as previously the interim Afghan government had denied that they were either harbouring terrorists or that any terrorists were living inside Afghanistan. “Mr. Muttaqi also raised the issue of Pakistan’s new policy which he said led to deportation of Afghan refugees. But I emphasised that it is not only Afghan refugees (without documentation) who are being deported but all illegal people living inside Pakistan. The policy was not Afghan-specific. I also assured him that no harassment will take place while the deportation was undertaken”, said the foreign minister.

To a question whether a visit from his Afghan counterpart was expected, Jilani responded, “No, the Afghan foreign minister is not arriving in Pakistan”, but he felt that international agencies should help with the deportation.

Earlier in an interview to Hong Kong‘s Phoenix TV, the foreign minister defended Pakistan’s new policy that all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghans, must leave, saying no other country allows illegal immigrants and the decision is in line with the international practice.

The decision was taken in an apex committee meeting headed by Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-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.

Speaking in the interview on the sidelines of a forum in Tibet, Jilani said, “No country allows illegal people to live in their country whether it is Europe, whether it is countries in Asia, in our neighbourhood.”

“So, accordingly this is in line with the international practice that we have taken this decision,” he added.

Whenever there was any problem, people would immigrate to Pakistan, take refuge in Pakistan,” Jilani said.

“But now I think it has been more than 40 years, so the Government of Pakistan has taken a decision,” Jilani said, noting that the situation in Afghanistan had stabilised. Jilani said Pakistan had been discussing the migrant issue with Afghanistan “for a very long time” and he called on international humanitarian agencies to help with the process.

On Thursday, the Foreign Office spokeswoman had stated on similar lines.

“As the situation in Afghanistan stabilises, we believe it is the right time to upscale international efforts to create conditions conducive to the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees with honour and dignity,” she said.