RAWALPINDI, Oct 30: The government of Pakistan has decided to issue temporary passports to 20,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants to help them to avail themselves of an amnesty offered by the Greek government, Dawn has learnt.

An official source said that in a letter sent to the Foreign Office, Islamabad, the Pakistani Mission in Athens had asked the government of Pakistan to allow them to issue temporary passports to illegal Pakistani immigrants to avail amnesty offered by the Greek government to all illegal foreigners residing there.

The source said that the validity of the temporary passport would be from October 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005.

The Pakistani Mission has also asked the ministry concerned to coordinate with Director General Passports and Immigration, Chairman NADRA, and Ministry of Interior to allow the Pakistani Mission to issue passports to illegal Pakistani immigrants holding old National Identity Cards.

However, passports having one-year validity will be extended to normal validity on production of the NICOP and Computerized National Identity Card, the source said.

The amnesty for illegal foreigners living in Greece was offered after the new immigration bill was amended by the Greek Parliament earlier this year.

Under the new law, illegal immigrants are required to apply for legal status from October 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005.

The source said that a large number of Pakistanis residing illegally in Greece have not got Computerized National Identity Cards and NICOP (National Identity Card Origin Pakistan). To prove their nationality, they had produced old NIC cards which had been cancelled by the government of Pakistan.

The source said, after the Greek government announced amnesty for foreigners illegally residing there, the Pakistani Mission had requested his government to allow all illegal Pakistani immigrants to get temporary passports even if they had been holding old National Identity Cards.

The source said that the delay in reply from Islamabad to the Pakistani Mission in Greece caused problems for the applicants and embarrassment for the Mission.

There had been some repulsive incidents in which the applicants had abused embassy officials in Greece. However, the embassy staff has been issuing passports to as many Pakistani nationals as possible to enable them to get amnesty.