RAWALPINDI/TAXILA: As many as 86 undocumented Afghan immigrants detained by the police at ‘holding centres’ in the Rawalpindi division will be transported to the Pak-Afghan border in Torkham for deportation today while at least 19 refugees from Islamabad were moved to the border for forced repatriation.

On the other hand, in an apparent shift in policy, the Rawalpindi police have decided to target only those foreign nationals who are undocumented along with those who have overstayed their visas.

Talking to Dawn, Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha said that there were 86 Afghan nationals detained at ‘holding centres’ of Rawalpindi Division. He said in the Rawalpindi district, 200 people were brought to the ‘holding centre’ and after verification 17 of them were declared as ‘illegal’.

In Attock, out of 377 detained immigrants, 19 were declared undocumented by the authorities. In Chakwal and Jhelum, 25 each were declared undocumented.

19 immigrants move to Torkham; data discrepancies complicate repatriation drive in Rawalpindi

The commissioner said only those Afghan nationals would be deported who would fail to produce identity proof. He said that those Afghans whose visas had expired had been given a chance to apply for fresh visas as per the government policy, adding all ‘illegal foreigners’ would be deported.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that the local police and administration were working to re-arrange the data of the ‘illegal foreign nationals’ who went back to their home country over the past few days.

“Initially, we collected the data of 1,000 ‘illegal foreigners’ who went back to their home country before the end of the deadline, but a perusal of the record available with the Torkham border authorities and the law enforcement agencies revealed that there were more than 3,000 people who went back out of their own accord,” said Mr Cheema.

Speaking about Nadra, he said, “The Nadra verification counter is operational round the clock to verify the record of the foreign nationals. We were asked by the government to round up those people who fail to produce their identity and proof of stay in Pakistan,” he said.

According to the data collected so far, the number of undocumented Afghan nationals across the division is around 24,018. Out of this, 10,000 people are living in Attock district; 1,200 in Chakwal district; 818 in Jhelum district, and 12,000 in Rawalpindi district. Authorities claimed all these foreign nationals did not have proof of identity.

Change in strategy

As opposed to earlier directives which called for the indiscriminate arrest of Afghan nationals, the Rawalpindi CPO had to change his strategy on Thursday and directed the police to only focus on “undocumented or unregistered” foreign nationals or those who had overstayed their visas. He also issued a fresh directive to the SHOs to follow the lists provided to them by the foreign branch of the Rawalpindi police while rounding the undocumented foreign nationals.

A Rawalpindi police official told Dawn that 336 undocumented foreign nationals were detained and moved to the ‘holding camp’ where their documents would be verified by Nadra officials.

In line with the CPO’s directives, the police had already prepared lists of those Afghan nationals who were overstaying their stay after the expiry of their visas.

Officials have estimated, that a total of 12,000 Afghans have been identified in the Rawalpindi district, of which 6,000 are illegal. The status of the remaining 6,000 is yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, at least 272 illegal Afghan nationals were rounded up in different parts of Attock and shifted to different ‘holding centres’.

According to official sources, as many as 42 undocumented Afghan nationals were arrested in Attock city circle, and 35 in tehsil Hazro. Moreover, as many as 37 were arrested in Fatehjang tehsil circle. In Hassanabdal, as many as 82 undocumented immigrants were rounded up. The rest were rounded in Jand, Pindigheb Injra, Basal, and other parts of the district. — (Munawer Azeem in Islamabad also contributed to this report).

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023