A special Senate panel Tuesday called upon the government to set up a mechanism for issuing Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs) for Pakistanis abroad who have relinquished their Pakistani nationality on any ground and acquired the nationality of the country of their residence.
The Senate special committee to provide mechanism for implementation of recommendations of the committees adopted by the House met with Senator Dilawar Khan in chair in which the matter was discussed in detail.
However, the panel deferred the matter for its next meeting and also invited the Ministry of Interior for input. The committee chairman also expressed displeasure over the absence of the officials from the Interior Ministry, saying that the House was displeased with the ministry for not sending any senior official despite prior invitation.
Petitioner in the matter, Senator Sajjad Turi informed the committee that it has been observed that thousands of the people abroad of Pakistani origin who have sought asylum abroad and are now citizens of their respective countries of residence are facing severe problems while coming back to the country to attend certain ceremonies of their dear and near ones back in home.
He said that these Pakistanis are now contributing significantly in the country's economy in terms of sending remittances. He pointed out that the Musharraf government had introduced the POCs for those of Pakistani origin, but the process has been stopped due to unknown reasons.
Senator Mohammad Ayub Afridi opposed the idea, saying those who have relinquished their Pakistani nationalities for the sake of acquiring the nationality of any other country should not be given any relief.
However, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad said that those who have relinquished Pakistani nationality due to some reasons should be encouraged if they are intending to again make a relationship with the country.
"They are sons and daughters of the soil and we have to make a mechanism to facilitate them if they are again seeking to establish their relationship with Pakistan," he said. The minister while referring to the plight of Bengalis in the country lamented that "we have completely ignored those who in 1971 sided with Pakistan and now are living a miserable life in the country."
Senator Aurangzeb Khan pointed out that the people of Pakistani origin abroad are those who had left the country under extreme situation when there were conflicts in their areas especially in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He said that they deserve to be treated fairly, as they are contributing significantly in the country's economy.
The committee was of the view that Pakistanis living abroad should be given the facility of these cards as the absence of this facility is also leading to use of illegal channels.
The director International Immigration, NADRA, informed the committee that the POCs have not discontinued and are being issued regularly; however, the cases of those people who showed themselves as Afghan nationals and are now reclaiming the Pakistani citizenship face more scrutiny.
He said that the cases related to alleged Afghan nationals have to be routed through Ministry of Interior and they are issued POCs after clearance from the Ministry of Interior. The committee decided to listen to the Ministry of Interior in the next meeting.
Regarding the problems being faced by the pensioners in merged districts of Kurram and Orakzai, the committee was told that after the merger, the matter now comes under the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
An amount of Rs 64.1 million is recoverable from pensioners who were overpaid and Rs 1.4 million is payable to pensioners. The committee decided to call the provincial government representative in next meeting to hear on the issue.
Regarding the problems faced by expatriates due to biometric system in the banks, the committee was told by the executive director State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that more than 95 percent overseas Pakistanis' bank accounts have been biometrically verified.
He said that the SBP is cognizant of the problems faced by the people in far-flung areas who are not well educated and well aware about the requirements but Pakistan at this stage cannot afford to let the banking system go unverified, as it is also a requirement under the FATF guidelines given to Pakistan. He said that the SBP has relaxed the biometric verification requirement for people who cannot come back for the purpose and has put in place the provision of presenting copies of passport and visa to complete the verification.
The committee called for publicizing the new policy through advertisements properly through banks as well as through media to reach out to the people who cannot read and understand the notifications in English so that the people do not use alternate illegal money transfer channels.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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