10 Afghan Daesh supporters held in Islamabad crackdown

In a crackdown on foreign immigrants staying illegally in Islamabad, a task force formed by intelligence agencies has rounded up 10 Afghan nationals, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

Sources said that those taken into custody were the supporters of a militant outfit, Daesh, and they were residing in different areas of the federal capital.

They revealed that those arrested also had national identity cards (NICs) with them.  

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad most recently, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said that an effective policy had been put in place to stop Afghans from entering Pakistan illegally.

He clarified that the policy would cover the Afghans without documents, and those who had created fake identities.

He made it clear that illegal refugees would be sent back to their countries. “If someone wants to come to Pakistan, it should be through legal paths and through the issuance of visas,” he said.

Similarly, presiding over a meeting in Islamabad on Friday  to review progress on the government’s plan to crackdown on those involved in illegal practices, the prime minister said that the government would return all “illegal” Afghan immigrants to curb smuggling of goods and foreign currency so that the fast deteriorating country’s economy could be revived.

The development comes as Pakistan continues to face an economic slowdown for the last one year, with its foreign exchange reserves depleting, currency devaluing sharply and inflation rising to record highs.

Pakistan had first opened its borders to Afghan refugees in the 1980s after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, becoming the largest refugee-hosting country in the world.

According to the UNHCR, more than 4.4 million Afghan refugees had returned to their homeland since 2002, but around 1.4 million still live in refugee camps, villages and urban centers across Pakistan.

In the last few days, police in Karachi have arrested hundreds of Afghan nationals for allegedly residing in the country illegally.

But a senior diplomat from Afghanistan and a human rights activist, disputing the claims made by Pakistani authorities, said that many of those apprehended possessed valid documents.

 

Reporter: Tayyab Saif