Islamabad [Pakistan], October 13 : The Sindh government has decided to set up 'housing facilities' in Karachi and Sukkur to lodge illegal Afghan immigrants before their deportation, Dawn reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Sources told Dawn that a meeting held at the Sindh home department on Thursday decided to form a high-level committee comprising officials of civil and military representatives to oversee the repatriation of illegal Afghan refugees from Sindh.
As per sources, it was decided that data on illegal immigrants would be collected by the Special Branch of the Sindh police and intelligence agencies would assist the law enforcers in this exercise.
As per a statement issued after the meeting, the members of the high-level committee will include the inspector general of Sindh police, the deputy director general of the Pakistan Rangers, an additional IG of the Special Branch, representatives of V Corps, Intelligence Bureau, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Federal Investigation Agency, the Military Intelligence (MI) and Commissionerate Afghan Refugees.
The participants expressed their resolve that the illegal immigrants would not be allowed to live in Sindh in any situation, it added, as per Dawn.
The participants in the meeting decided to meet again on Oct 16 to review the situation.
In an ongoing nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants, law enforcement agencies have apprehended more than 1,700 Afghan nationals in Karachi for residing without valid documents, Dawn reported.
The caretaker Home Minister retired Brigadier Haris Nawaz disclosed this information while also announcing plans for the deportation of all undocumented immigrants living in Sindh.
Also on Monday, the Sindh government utilised the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance to detain Noorullah Tareen, the provincial president of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), for 30 days, citing his alleged role in "instigating public disturbances," according to Dawn.
However, PTM maintained that Tareen was raising his voice against the arrests of Afghan refugees having valid documents.
Retired Brigadier Haris Nawaz, addressing the media at the DIG-West office, stated that the government is devising a mechanism to protect registered immigrants from detention, emphasizing that different committees, including SSPs, deputy commissioners, and representatives of various institutions, are being formed to collectively combat illegal immigration, Dawn reported.
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