The city administration and the application of the law in Karachi began on Friday the ‘forced repatriation’ of an estimated 16,138 headlines of the Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC), with more than 150 detainees as part of the government’s policy to deport all undocumented foreigners, the authorities said on Friday.
The Ministry of Interior, in a statement on March 6, declared: “All illegal foreigners and owners of ACCs who leave the country voluntarily before March 31, 2025 are advised; since then, deportation will begin on April 1, 2025”.
On February 13, Interior Minister instructed the Government of Sindh to begin the repatriation of all the owners of ACC to their country of origin under the illegal foreigner repatriation plan (IFFIF). As part of the plan, the voluntary return until March 31 ended and the “forced repatriation” since April 1 has begun.
According to the IRFP prepared by the Department of Interior of Sindh and seen by Dawn.comA control room has been established in the department, while the “retention points” have been established in Karachi and Jacobabad, with a “transit point” in Sakrund, Shaheed Benazirabad houses a total capacity of 1,500.
The Plan added that the main repatriation center has been established in Amen House in Sultanabad in the Keamari area of Karachi.
South Deputy General Inspector (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said Dawn.com On Friday that until now, 162 ACC holders have been taken to the tenure installation, since some of them were returned or released as registration test holders (by).
“A total of 196 Afghas from different areas were taken to the camp on April 3,” said the excavation. “Of them, 20 were released while holding for.
“Similarly, a total of 90 Afghan arrived at the camp on April 4 (Friday), with 10 released. Therefore, a total of 242 Afghans have been brought for repatriation to Afghanistan,” he added.
Dig Raza said that a joint mapping exercise made by the Special Police Branch, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, found a total of 16,138 head holders in Karachi, and most of them live in the east and west districts.
Giving an breakdown of each district, the South Police said there were 11,233 headlines of ACC in the Eastern District, 2, 792 card holders in the west district, 910 in Korangi, 396 in Malir, 406 in the Central District, 203 in Keamari, 120 in the South District and 78 in the city district.
Meanwhile, the Captain of the Police Superintendent (SSP) of Keamari (retired) Faizan Ali visited the Holding Camp of the Ameen House on Friday, said a statement issued by the cell of the media of the Keamari Police media.
According to the statement, SSP Keamari reviewed the process of transferring illegal immigrants and issued instructions to the personnel in charge of security and other agreements.
“Special arrangements have been made for transport, food and health facilities for people transferred to the retention camp,” said the SSP. “The transfer of foreign immigrants to your native country with all facilities, security and dignity will be guaranteed.”
However, the lawyer and founding member of the Joint Action Committee for Refugees (JAC) Moniza Kakar said Dawn.com that 500-600 Afghan have been arrested in “repressions” in several localities of the metropolis.
“As in other parts of the country, Afghas complain about ‘harassment and bribery’,” Kakar claimed, claiming that Afghans have been arrested in different areas by the police.
“We have already presented requests in Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi and we are waiting for its result before starting the same process in Sindh too,” he added, highlighting that after repression, Afghans will not work for fear of being arrested.
Kakar stressed that there are a total of 850,000 ACC holders in the country that received their cards in 2017. According to the reports, 70,000 lived in Karachi.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International launched the ‘#undotHedeadline’ campaign against what he called the “illegal deportation of Afghan nationals”, according to a press release.
The Rights Group launched the campaign by publishing a report entitled “Tractanos as human beings”: Afghans in Pakistan at risk of illegal deportation. “
According to the press release, Amnesty “aims to amplify the voices of Afghans at risk of illegal deportation, advocate respect for their human rights and raise awareness about the urgent need to stop their forced deportations of Pakistan.”
The report highlights the stories of 10 Afghan migrants, refugees and asylum seekers “who cannot afford to return to Afghanistan governed by the Taliban and not only risk their lives, but they can also lose decades of lives of lives built in Pakistan.”
“Afghan citizens, including refugees and asylum applicants in Pakistan, have been living in a state of fear since the Pakistani authorities announced their stages deportation plans in October 2023,” said Babu Ram Pant, regional deputy director of Asia in Southern Amnesty International, in the statement.
“Many Afghan have been in Pakistan for more than four decades. Their lives can be completely overturned as a result of the insistence of the Pakistan government to violate their obligations under the International Law of Human Rights, specifically the principle of not making reference again,” he added.
Pant warned that Afghans seeking refuge in Pakistan after the Taliban acquisition of Afghanistan in 2021 are particularly at risk, including Afghan women and girls, journalists, human rights defenders, demonstrating women, artists and former government and security officials.
“Pakistan must reverse his existing policy of forced return to guarantee the safety of these people,” he said.
The Ministry of Interior says that the IFRP was implemented on November 1, 2023. “In continuation of the government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, national leadership has now also decided to repatriate the headlines of ACC,” said the statement of March 6.
Under the IFRP, more than 700,000 undocumented Afghans have already abandoned Pakistan since the process was launched in November 2023.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, at a meeting with the special representative of Pakistan for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq in Kabul on March 22, had asked Pakistan to give more time to ACC holders as repatriation of so many people could create difficulties for his government.
More to follow
