KARACHI, Feb 6: The reply to a single question regarding the number of illegal aliens residing in Sindh, furnished to the house by Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza, prompted an avalanche of supplementary questions from both sides of the parliamentary divide, which kept the minister on his toes for a large part of Friday’s question hour.

The PPP’s Humera Alwani had asked for the number of illegal immigrants in Sindh – country-wise – as well as if the Sindh government intended to “launch a campaign against them or approach the federal government in this regard.” Dr Mirza, in his written reply, stated that as per the figures of the National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara), there were an estimated 1,563,385 total aliens in Sindh. The greatest number of these was Bengali (823,360), while the minister also gave the breakdown of aliens from Myanmar (Burma), Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and India.

A member asked if the government had a policy to repatriate the over 1.5 million illegal foreign residents. The minister replied that laws exist for this purpose while the government “has a clear-cut policy” on the matter. However, “other things, such as funds” stood as an obstacle.

When Ms Alwani asked for a specific date for the repatriation, the minister said that he had no cut-off date but if it was up to him, he would “send them home tomorrow.”

The PML-F’s Marvi Rashdi pointed out that the Afghans in the list were not aliens but refugees as recognised by the government. She added that discrimination was rife, especially against Bengali aliens, and it was the government’s responsibility to protect their rights as they were human beings after all. She suggested forming a committee in this regard.

Zulfiqar Mirza disagreed with her when he said that the Afghans’ refugee status no longer applied. “The government had repatriated them repeatedly, but they keep coming back.” He made a distinction between Pakistani Pakhtuns entering the province and Afghans.

As for the discrimination against Bengalis, he said that domestic help was discriminated against in general. “Laws exist in this regard. However, if they are not registered, they cannot be legally facilitated. But if a crime is committed against them, we register a case.”

The PPP’s Ahmed Ali Shah suggested that the list of aliens be provided to Nadra so that the aliens could not obtain national ID cards. The minister replied that the data was shared, though the issuance of fake ID cards had existed “since ages.”

The ruling party’s Bachal Shah asked if a system existed at the country’s ports of entry to check the entry of illegal aliens. Dr Mirza replied that every port of entry had a system in place. However, people tended to “hoodwink” the system, “but we are trying to shed the load.”

When asked what the PPP-led government had done to check illegal immigration ever since it took power, the minister replied that it was essentially a subject under the jurisdiction of the federal government. “Whatever they decide, we will act upon.”

Interestingly, as a hack in the Press Gallery observed, not one question was raised about the 16,415 Indians illegally resident in Sindh.