ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was on Saturday moved for seeking direction for the extension of another year in the deadline for the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

Moved under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights, Advocate Zulfikar Ahmed Bhutta has pleaded before the apex court to restrain police authorities, law enforcement agencies and even members of the judiciary from buying properties owned by Afghan nationals at throwaway prices.

The Supreme Court should also order the Afghan refugees commissioner in Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP) to maintain a complete record of those government officials who have purchased the properties sold by Afghan refugees after Jan 1 before their departure to Afghanistan, said Advocate Bhutta who shot to prominence for initially representing the June 2002 gang-rape victim, Mukhtaran Mai, and another victim Sonia Naz who was raped by police personnel in 2005.

When asked what prompted him to approach the Supreme Court to file the petition on Afghan refugees, Advocate Bhutta told Dawn that some of his friends from Peshawar had told him that due to harassment of refugees at the hands of the police and even some judicial officers, they were selling their properties and vehicles at cheap prices.

Advocate Bhutta also cited a recent article that appeared in a section of the press in which it was stated that the police and other law enforcement agencies in Peshawar had yet to comply with the federal government’s order of not arresting or harassing registered and unregistered Afghan refugees. The same article quoted December 2016 as the deadline until which date refugees having proof of registration cards could stay in Pakistan.

The petition has named the cabinet and foreign affairs secretaries, chief secretary of KP, the inspectors general of KP and Punjab police as well as the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency and the Afghan refugees commissioner in KP as respondents.

The petitioner has also suggested that the government should extend the repatriation date for another five years for those Afghan refugees who have established businesses in Pakistan with an investment of not less than Rs20 million.

Likewise, the Supreme Court should order the government departments concerned to allow those Afghan refugees who have immovable properties worth Rs10m to extend their stay in Pakistan by another two years from the already given stipulated period.

The petitioner has asked the apex court to order the government to extend the stipulated time for Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan, registered or unregistered, to December 2017.

Advocate Bhutta stated that he had come to know through different sources that officials at relevant departments were allegedly misusing state machinery to get undue advantage of this situation.

This state of affairs, the petition fears, will further inculcate a sense of hatred among refugees towards Pakistan, the country which sacrificed hugely for hosting millions of Afghans over the past 30 years.

The petition says the matter involves international issue and the subject of Article 40 of the Constitution which asks for strengthening bonds with the Muslim world and promoting international peace having emphasis for friendly relations with other countries. Therefore, this is a fit case to be proceeded under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution (enforcement of fundamental rights) by the Supreme Court.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2016