PAKISTAN is the biggest victim of terrorism and thousands of people have lost their lives in terrorist acts. The current situation in Swat is not a secret and there is a dire need for implementing the National Action Plan. Can Pakistan afford to settle foreigners who directly or indirectly indulge in terrorism, drugs, smuggling, human trafficking and many more major crimes in Pakistan? We already have been witnessing a surge in crimes in the country, and hosting criminal elements from abroad will only aggravate the situation.

Let us have a look at countries around us and see how they handle the issue of immigration. Iran gives citizenship to a person only if his/her father by birth is from Iran. Afghanistan itself has some regulations. If anyone wants to get citizenship, some elder of his family must have Afghan nationality by birth.

India introduced new rules from Dec 3, 2004, wherein both parents of the child must have Indian nationality. Even Arab countries never give citizenship, and, as per their rules, they only give residence visa to foreigners.

In the existing situation in which local people are striving hard for survival and one-third of the country is affected by floods, it is time to give priority to issues of the natives, not of the foreigners. There may well be far-reaching reper-cussions in case the priority is reversed.

Sheeraz Ali Subh Poto
Hala

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2022