LAHORE: The deportation of illegal Afghan nationals entered a ‘final phase’ as Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana ordered a crackdown for deportation of all Afghans except those living with valid visas.

He also directed the police to purge the city of illegal weapons, giving a month for registration of unlicensed arms with the Khidmat Markaz.

He chaired a meeting of senior police officers on Tuesday following a policy decision of the government of repatriating all Afghan nationals.

An officer, privy to the meeting, said in the first phase three years back, the government had deported all the illegally settled Afghan nationals except those holding Pakistan Origin Card (POC), Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) or the Proof of Registration (PoR) card.

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When the second phase was launched, the police officer said, those card holder Afghan nationals who were granted extensions under the then government policy were allowed to stay while others were deported. However, in the final phase launched on Tuesday all Afghan nationals except those who were having valid visas would be deported.

Police ordered to detain anyone not possessing a valid visa

A spokesperson for the Lahore police said the meeting also reviewed the law and order situation, with the focus on the deportation of Afghan nationals and unlicensed weapons.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Kamyana directed the SPs to coordinate closely for the deportation process.

“We are committed to implementing the government’s directive regarding the return of undocumented Afghan residents,” he said.

The CCPO also ordered continuation of the operation against illegal arms to purge the city of weapons. He ordered a crackdown on public display of arms too.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2025