KP govt launches crackdown against illegal Afghan refugees

Asks Centre to send refugees back or take them to Punjab

RAWALPINDI: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has arrested at least 2,000 illegal Afghan refugees in Peshawar as part of a crackdown in the province.

The KP government had asked the unregistered Afghan refugees to get themselves registered by June 30. The crackdown has been launched ahead of the expiry of the deadline for registration.

The KP Police said search operations were under way and over 2,000 illegal Afghan refugees had been arrested so far.“Around 950 illegal Afghan immigrants were arrested from the Cantonment area, 350 from the Peshawar city and 700 Afghans have been arrested from the city’s rural areas,” the police said, adding that the arrests have been made during operations carried out over the past month.

At least 400 Afghan settlers have been deported to Afghanistan.Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Mushtaq Ghani said the province cannot bear the economic burden of Afghan refugees any more.

“We cannot bear the load of more than three million Afghans in the province,” he said.Ghani said if the federal government wished to extend the stay of Afghan settlers, then it needs to establish refugee camps and shift the refugees from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the Punjab.“After June 30, all the Afghan refugees will be restricted to their camps and will not be allowed to move freely in the province,” he said.