ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Monday said that foreigners including Afghan citizens could not stay in Pakistan indefinitely without a visa.
Talking to a private news channel, the minister said that some foreign countries had criticised Pakistan for sending illegal immigrants back to their countries.
“There are about 20,000 Afghans in Pakistan who worked with the US coalition forces,” Murtaza Solangi said.
The minister said that the Taliban government was established in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, but the US and its allies were not yet able to shift these 20,000 Afghans to their own countries.
He said that everyone knew the treatment of illegal immigrants across the world. When illegal immigrants were drowning in Greece, no one came to save them, Murtaza Solangi recalled.
Pakistan’s record about illegal residents was very good as compared to other countries of the world, Murtaza Solangi opined.
The minister said that millions of Afghan citizens legally present in Pakistan had access to all facilities including health, education and business activities.
About the foreigners who do not have documents or visas, he said, “We only asked them to go back to their countries.” The minister said that Pakistan will have to decide how long foreigners could stay inside Pakistan.
The National Apex Committee in October issued an ultimatum for illegal immigrants residing in the country to leave by October 31, 2023.
The announcement came during a meeting of the Apex Committee of National Action Plan chaired by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.
The public was encouraged to report information regarding unlawfully residing foreign individuals in Pakistan through a web portal and a dedicated helpline.
Former caretaker interior minister Sarfraz Bugti had directed officials and agencies to be respectful to undocumented immigrants while detaining them in holding centres after the deadline.
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