Two weeks left for Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave Pakistan

WEB DESK: With government setting March 31 as the final for ‘illegal’ foreign residents and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders to leave Pakistan, authorities have announced to initiate strict action against non-compliant individuals.

According to official sources, the decision is part of the government’s broader strategy to ‘regulate’ undocumented migration. Authorities have assured that the evacuation process will be carried out in a humane manner, with arrangements in place for food and healthcare facilities for those leaving the country whose policy states that anyone born on its soil can claim citizenship as long as they not diplomats or children of those forcibly occupying the land.

Despite this, the government has reiterated that after the deadline, law enforcement agencies will take strict legal action against individuals who fail to comply with the repatriation orders.

Pakistan asks Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave by March 31

This move follows earlier phases of the repatriation plan, which saw thousands of illegal residents leave Pakistan ‘voluntarily’. Officials have stated that efforts will continue to ensure national security and the enforcement of immigration laws.

Earlier Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur urged the federal government to grant citizenship to Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan and refrain from forcibly deporting them. 

Talking to the media in Peshawar, the KP chief minister said that Afghan refugees were our neighbours, and Pakistan had embraced them wholeheartedly. However, he said that the government failed in its policy regarding refugees. 

He demanded that Afghan refugees should not be sent back in a disrespectful manner and that their forced deportation should be avoided. “Why aren’t Afghan refugees being granted Pakistani citizenship?” he questioned. 

Gandapur said that he opposes the expulsion of Afghans residing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “I have sent terms of reference (TORs) to the foreign and interior ministries for negotiations with Afghanistan, but I have yet to receive a response. Instead, my suggestion for dialogue was ridiculed and taken as a joke,” he lamented.