Police crack down against illegal residents as departure deadline ends

KARACHI: Following the expiration of the deadline for illegal residents to leave the country voluntarily, police have launched a crackdown.

According to Jang Urdu, four individuals of Afghan origin, who were residing in the city illegally, were arrested on Tuesday night from President Area Karachi.

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The crackdown comes as a response to the deadline set for illegal residents to depart the country voluntarily.

The reports indicate that the arrested individuals have been relocated to a holding center.

All four are Afghan nationals who had been residing in Karachi without legal authorisation,” the official said.

Earlier, Pakistan clarified that its decision to deport illegal residents was not aimed at Afghan refugees but rather applied to all foreigners lacking valid visa documents.

During a weekly press briefing in October, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch asserted that the national policy toward Afghan refugees in the country “remained unchanged,” and their safe repatriation was a separate issue.

She underscored that the ongoing operation specifically targeted individuals who had either overstayed their visas or did not possess the necessary documents for legal residence.

Baloch further clarified that this operation had no bearing on the Afghan refugees that Pakistan had been hosting for several decades, despite its economic constraints.

She confirmed the continued bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan but emphasized Pakistan’s stance against the misuse of transit trade facilities.