Pakistan seeks ‘orderly departure’ of illegal immigrants: FO spokesperson

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Friday Pakistan would repatriate all illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals in “orderly phases rather than in one go”.

The announcement on Tuesday of a November 1 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave or face forcible expulsion has frayed already soured relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who said the threat to force out Afghan migrants was “unacceptable”.

“It will be done in phases,” Baloch told reporters in Islamabad on Friday. She added the process would follow an orderly manner, in contrast to what she called some misconceptions that all of them would just be expelled in one go.

She said it could start with people with criminal records, such as someone involved in a crime or smuggling. “We will be looking into each case individually,” the spokesperson added.

Afghan refugees not involved in Pakistan’s security problems: Taliban

She did not have exact data on the total number of illegal immigrants, including Afghans. Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Tuesday some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan had no legal documents and the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan totalled 4.4 million.

Bugti said the decision was taken by the country’s civil and military leaders in view of rising attacks by Islamist militants, alleging that 14 out of 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.

Pakistan has hosted the largest number of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.

Aid officials say Afghanistan is already facing a humanitarian crisis and the forced repatriation of large numbers of people would compound dire problems there.

Decades of war in Afghanistan largely ended in mid-2021 when the Taliban re-took control as U.S.-led foreign forces were withdrawing and a U.S.-backed government collapsed.

While Pakistan has for years favoured the Taliban as Pakistan’s best option as Afghanistan’s rulers, relations have deteriorated over the past couple of years, largely over accusations that Islamists fighting the Pakistani state operate from Afghan territory. The Taliban deny it.

Foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani defends departure of illegal immigrants

Pakistan’s foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani defended the order for the departure of illegal immigrants, saying no other country allowed illegal immigrants to stay and live.

“So, accordingly, this is in line with the international practice that we have taken this decision,” the minister told Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV on the sidelines of a forum in Tibet.

“Whenever there was any problem, people would immigrate to Pakistan, take refuge in Pakistan,” Jilani said.

“But now I think it has been more than 40 years, so the government of Pakistan has taken a decision,” he said, noting that the situation in Afghanistan had stabilised.

Jilani meets Afghan counterpart to discuss regional peace challenges

Jalil Abbas Jilani met with Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tibet to discuss regional peace and stability challenges, said the Foreign Office on Thursday.

During the meeting, the interim foreign minister underlined Pakistan’s commitment to improving bilateral ties with Afghanistan.

He also emphasised the need for a “collaborative spirit through collective strategies” to address the issues threatening regional peace and security.

Decades of war in Afghanistan largely ended in mid-2021 when the Taliban re-took control as US-led foreign forces were withdrawing and a US-backed government collapsed.