Afghan men married to local women: PHC partially allows petition for Pakistani Origin Cards

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday partially allowed the plea for the Pakistani Origin Cards (POCs) filed by the Afghan citizens married to Pakistani women and ordered processing of the applications of only those applicants who met the set laws and regulations.

A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Waqar Ahmad issued the order after hearing the petition filed by 101 persons.

Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel and Nouman Mohib Kakakhel appeared for the petitioners.Additional Attorney General (AAG) Sanaullah, Nadra counsels, including Shahid Imran Gigyani, and other legal officers represented the state.

The counsels for the petitioners submitted that the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) was not issuing POCs to their clients despite the fact that these Afghan refugees had married Pakistani women. They called for issuance of the POCs to the petitioners as they were facing problems with obtaining various documents for their children.

The AAG told the court the Afghans migrated to Pakistan in different phases - in 1979, 1996 and 2001-who were provided shelter in Pakistan on the basis of Islamic brotherhood.The state counsel submitted that Pakistan was not signatory to any law on the refugee status. But the country inked an agreement with UNHCR and the Afghan commissionerate for the registration of Afghan refugees.

He said the registration put the tally of the Afghans taking shelter in Pakistan at 2.6 million.The DAG submitted that Nadra in 2018 issued 850,000 Afghan Citizen Cards (ACCs) in collaboration with the Afghan Consulate.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali asked the Nadra counsels about the procedure for issuance of the POCs. They said legal marriage, passport and clearance from the intelligence agencies were required for that.

The judge asked the DAG if living legally in Pakistan was a must for issuance of the POCs and he said yes. The DAG said the petitioners possessed neither passports nor other documents.

The counsels for the petitioners submitted that their clients had contacted the Afghan Consulate for acquiring passports. The Afghan Consulate, they contended, had asked the petitioners to first get Afghan identity cards— Tazkiras — from Afghanistan to obtain passports.

They said the petitioners were facing difficulties in getting Afghan identity cards as they had spent almost 40 years in Pakistan and had no relatives left in Afghanistan.

The bench directed the federation and Nadra to submit to the court on the next hearing the written policy of the government on POR cards and ACCs, further ordering that the applications of those petitioners who meet all the legal formalities should be processed.