KP Police ordered **t to arrest Afghans
 

Cops directed to halt action under 14 Foreigners’ Act



PESHAWAR: The police in the provincial capital have been strictly directed **t to arrest Afghan nationals during raids, snap-checking or any other action till **vember 15, a source told The News.

The source said that Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Abbas Majeed Marwat has issued written orders to all the superintendents of police, sub-divisional ******rs and station house ******rs (SHOs) to stop arresting Afghan nationals under the 14 Foreigners’ Act.

“All the ******rs and SHOs have been directed to stop action under the Foreigners’ Act. They were directed to release any unregistered Afghan on guarantee of a local elder if he is arrested during search operation,” the source told The News.

Actions against the undocumented Afghans were accelerated in Peshawar under the National Action Plan in recent months.Over 10,000 unregistered Afghans were arrested in Peshawar alone in actions during the current year.

The massive arrests as well as installation of the border management system at Torkham forced thousands of refugees and unregistered Afghans to leave for their homeland after 37 years of stay in Peshawar and other parts of the country.

According to the estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, over 100,000 registered refugees have left for their country during 2016.Thousands of unregistered Afghans too left for their homes to avoid arrests.

After the arrest of thousands of undocumented Afghans and a number of registered refugees, their elders took up the issue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and senior officials of the law-enforcement agencies. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police last month sought policy guidelines from the federal and provincial governments about dealing with registered and unregistered Afghans.

The provincial police authorities wrote to the government to give them policy guidelines regarding those Afghans having the Proof of Registration (PoR) Cards and others without any document.

“Many of those having ** PoR cards are illegal immigrants under the definition of the Foreigners’ Act. The UNHCR authorities have made it clear that they are **t refugees and Government of Pakistan has to dealwith them as per its own policy,” said a communiqué sent to the KP government and also through the proper channel to Islamabad.

The document stated that unregistered immigrants in such large numbers were a serious threat to the law and order situation.“The KP Police had suggested to the provincial government to take up the issue with the federal government and define the policy regarding unregistered Afghans. The police also suggested that the concerned diplomatic missions should prepare list of all these illegal immigrants to get work permit, visa or any other document for them to justify their stay,” a senior cop told The News.

Amid complaints of mistreatment, the KP Police formed a focal group of the police, members of the UNHCR and representatives of the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar to take up complaints filed by the refugees.

The focal group is headed by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) coordination, Peshawar.The police have **tified cellular and toll-free numbers and anyone having any complaint can call or send message on their own or through any consulate or UNHCR official, relative or friend. For any complaint, Afghans have been asked to call or text at: 0315 900777 or 8855.

According to the police, there are thousands of Afghan nationals who are believed to have got fake Pakistani CNICs during the last several years.A large number of Afghans have been living in the posh, urban and suburban localities for the last many years where they own houses, businesses and other properties.



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