12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 11: The government is considering forced eviction of Afghan nationals from across the country and from Karachi, in particular, as many of them were found involvement in criminal activities and arms smuggling, Dawn learnt on Sunday.

Sources in the interior ministry at Islamabad said that the ministry, in collaboration with the provincial governments, had prepared a report in which suggestions have been sought to improve law and order and to combat terrorism.

The ministry had been contemplating the repatriation of Afghans in view of the suggestions made by the Sindh government. The report was also presented to the President Pervez Musharraf in a meeting early this month.

The Sindh police has been directed to put a strict surveillance on movement of Afghan nationals living in Sindh, especially in Karachi, sources said. Afghanis have been living in the province and a majority has been living on Superhighway near Sohrab Goth in an Afghan Basti.

The sources said the number of Afghan nationals increased in the country, in general, and in Karachi, in particular, following military strikes on Afghanistan in 2001. According to a conservative estimate, 535,009 Afghans live in the province, of them, 519,519 live in Karachi alone.

The declared status of those migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan was 'refugee'. They could not be treated as foreigners thus the foreigners Act 1946 does not apply on them, sources claimed and added that they could not be enrolled as illegal immigrants by the National Aliens Registration Authority.

The refugees had been allowed to stay in Pakistan but they had not been confined to a specific territory. As a result, they reached other parts of the country. The sources said that the Afghans are settled in different places in the country and they have also been carrying out businesses of various nature.

The report strongly recommended the forced eviction of Afghans from Sindh and Karachi, in particular, as their involvement in arms and drug smuggling was noticeable. Most of the arms, recovered from the terrorist elements were smuggled through Afghans, the sources said.

Besides, the crime graph had risen during recent years and the involvement of Afghans in petty crimes and in robberies in Karachi was also noticed. They had also been involved in beggary and some of them involved in looting people in the guise of beggars.

MADARIS: The sources said that the interior ministry had asked the provincial governments to identify those religious seminaries in their respective domains which were allegedly promoting sectarianism.

They said the ministry had asked the provincial authorities to prepare a list of those Madaris, which were spreading sectarian hatred. Their activities should be closely monitored, the ministry further asked the provincial authorities.

According to a conservative estimate, there are 1,248 Madaris exist in Sindh province teaching some 264,169 pupils. Of them, 869 Madaris are in Karachi alone, in which 226,424 pupils were being imparted religious education, sources added.

The sources said that after the identification of such Madaris, the government would decide at a later stage as to what action should be taken to contain the objectionable activities of such Madaris. They said the local religious people and scholars may be contacted to influence the administrations of such Madaris to abandon their activities.

ENCLAVE: The sources said that the interior ministry is also planning to establish a diplomatic enclave in Karachi in view of potential threats after the 9/11 incident.

They said that a bomb explosion near the US Consulate in the year 2002, and two car bomb blasts near the US consul-general's residence on May 26, this year, a terrorist attack on the honorary consulate of Macedonia in December 2002, besides threats to British Deputy High Commission and other consulates were being viewed as serious in nature.

The provision of security to foreign diplomats and dignitaries was the responsibility of the country, the sources said and in view of imminent threats to foreign mission, it was necessary to establish a diplomatic enclave on the pattern of one in Islamabad. A separate force to guard the enclave would also be set up, the sources added.