‘Repatriation of illegal foreigners vital to ensure law and order’

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar on Monday reaffirmed the Sindh government’s commitment to executing the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP) without compromising the foreigners’ honour. He chaired a high-powered meeting on the IFRP at the Sindh Secretariat.

Lanjar stressed that repatriation of illegal foreigners is vital to ensure law and order, and security in the province. He emphasised that all measures must be taken in this regard, and a clear road map must be devised to work on the plan jointly.

Officials said Home Secretary Iqbal Memon told the meeting that the federal government had approved the IFRP in September 2023, following which the provincial government devised its own plan to repatriate illegal foreigners from November 1, 2023.

Memon said the Sindh government formed implementation committees at provincial, divisional and district levels, and established a central control room and a complaint cell at the home department for coordination, monitoring and reporting of the repatriation plan’s implementation.

He said the caretaker cabinet had also approved funds and placed them at the disposal of the secretary for further disbursement among the deputy commissioners (DCs).

The mapping of illegal foreigners started on October 28, 2023, and the second and third joint mapping was conducted by the police and various intelligence agencies by December 22, 2023, he added.

He also said that data of blocked CNICs provided by Nadra was transmitted to the commissioners on December 18, 2023, for holding district level committees meetings. On January 26, 2024, data was provided to the IGP, intelligence agencies and all commissioners for taking necessary actions, he added.

The home secretary said the Ministry of Interior had informed in the last meeting that the second phase of the IFRP would start in mid-April, and that action would be taken against illegal foreigners, including those whose Afghan citizen cards and proof of registration cards expired in March.

Lanjar directed him to coordinate with all the joint teams and expedite the operation. He directed the IGP to complete the repatriation plan in consultation with all the stakeholders, including the intelligence agencies.

He also directed all the commissioners and DCs to immediately convene district level committees to complete the tasks assigned to them by the home department.

The meeting was also attended by the revenue secretary, the Sindh and Karachi police chiefs, the city commissioner, the provincial prosecutor general and Afghan refugees commissioner, a Nadra representative and representatives of different intelligence agencies. All the other commissioners of Sindh joined in through videoconferencing.