Peshawar: KP government’s spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif has said that Afghan nationals living legally in Pakistan should not be “Harassed or expelled”, warning that any action in this regard could sour relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Government launched  first round of repatriation of what it called “Undocumented aliens” in November last year. No official data has been released as to how many of estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans have left for their country since November 2023, though figure likely fell hugely short of what is now being considered grossly exaggerated number. “We have already started mapping process,” Abid Majeed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Additional Chief Secretary, confirmed, adding that deadline for this process was April 30.

PTI leader said that all illegal Afghan migrants in KP had already been repatriated and that no action was currently underway against legal Afghan residents.

“During first phase, we were tasked to identify illegal Afghans in KP and they were deported”, he added. “All Afghans without any documentation in KP have returned to Afghanistan.”

Barrister Saif stated that only Afghans left in province were those in possession of Afghan Citizen Cards, in accordance with Pakistani law and international resolutions from bodies like UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Barrister warned that any action against legal Afghans would “Foment hatred, misunderstanding and mistrust between us and Afghanistan.”

“Federal government should approach this situation delicately,” he added.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 22 2024

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