Foreigners staying illegally to be kept in Holding Centres for deportation,Sarfaraz Bugti

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti said on Thursday that illegal foreigners who continue to stay in the country after November 1 will be provided stay at holding centres before being repatriated to their respective countries. He said the government had finalised the plan for repatriating such individuals.

“These centres have been named as ‘holding centres’. Illegal immigrants will be kept there,” Sarfraz Bugti, the caretaker interior minister, said at a press conference on Thursday.

“They will be provided with medical facilities and food. Children, women and elders will be treated with special respect. But at the same time, after November 1st, we will not compromise on illegal immigrants,” Bugti said, without giving further details.

The statement comes as only a few days remain to the government’s October 31 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan. The government gave an ultimatum to all undocumented immigrants, including Afghan nationals, to leave Pakistan by the deadline or else, risk imprisonment and deportation to their respective countries.

The government’s message is not only for Afghan citizens but for all illegal residents. It is not allowed in any country to settle illegally. He said that if someone has a refugee card or a visa, then they are our guests. He said that the impression is being given that this is an ethnic issue but it is not an ethnic issue, we are talking about evicting all illegal residents.

He said that he was not aware of the issue of Biharis living illegally in the country, but he will look into the matter. It has been decided to evict the people living illegally from Pakistan.

The caretaker interior minister said that in no country does it happen that someone comes and sits illegally. Does it happen in any other country where someone comes illegally and stays permanently, he asked.

After briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Interior , Bugti said that no extension has been proposed for the date of November 1 given to the people residing illegally in the country to leave the country.

From November, it has to be ensured that anyone who comes to this country will be required to bring a passport. Efforts are being made to make this issue linguistic, but we will not allow anyone who is living in Pakistan illegally.

Earlier, the Committee, unanimously, passed the bill titled, “The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023” aimed at enhancing the time period of punishment for offences including false accusations and malicious criminal prosecution by amending Section 182 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Schedule-II of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Last month, the caretaker government directed all illegal immigrants to sell their properties and leave the country by November 1.Over 50,000 illegal Afghan refugees have so far been repatriated to their country.Around 1.3 million are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, according to United Nations figures.