Deadline for unregistered foreigners worries Afghans

PESHAWAR: Thousands of Afghan families living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are concerned about their stay in Pakistan after the government’s deadline for the unregistered foreigners to leave before October 31.

The deadline is for the undocumented foreigners who neither possess any proof of registration (PoR) card issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees nor any visa or other document to legalize the stay in Pakistan. There are reports that thousands of Afghan families are also believed to have obtained Pakistani CNICs through fake documents.

The government decision has triggered concern among all families and individuals settled in urban and rural parts of the KP.

Only the refugees possessing PoR cards or any other document that legalize their stay have been told not to get worried as they will not be deported in the coming drive.

A number of political leaders and people from other walks of life have asked the government to take care of the honour of the Afghan families settled here as guests for decades.

According to officials, there are around 0.7 million Afghans living in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as refugees. The highest number of these refugees, over 221,300 , are settled in the provincial capital.

Thousands of other Afghans are also believed to be living in KP without any document that legalizes their stay in Pakistan.

A large number of the unregistered families have started packing up to return to Afghanistan after the authorities have set October 31 as the deadline for their deportation. Scores of these families are entering Afghanistan daily via Torkham.

On the other hand, the Federal Investigation Agency and other agencies are collecting the details of those who obtained Pakistani CNICs in the last several years and own properties and businesses.

An official of the FIA said they are working on such cases and have recently arrested a few officials of a government department involved in issuing fake CNICs to foreigners.

Police have arrested hundreds of unregistered Afghans during the current year under 14 Foreigners Act for not possessing any documents.

Besides, according to police, 385 Afghan nationals were arrested for alleged involvement in crimes in the provincial capital during the current year.

The figures are not high if compared with the number of locals arrested in these crimes in Peshawar during the last nine months.

“During the last nine months, 28 Afghan nationals were arrested for involvement in murder cases, 26 for street crimes while 331 were held for drug smuggling,” the spokesman for the Peshawar Police quoted from the official data.

The number of Afghans involved in terrorist incidents, however, is high.

Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan said recently Afghans were involved in 75 per cent of suicide attacks in KP during 2023. He said suicide bombers in 11 out of 15 suicide attacks were not having any record with the National Database and Registration Authority.

These attacks included the Peshawar Police Lines attack where over 86 policemen and civilians lost lives while over 200 were injured.