AS some internal and external forces were hell-bent to scuttle the well-coordinated campaign of the government to repatriate all foreign nationals living in Pakistan illegally, Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has reiterated resolve of the government to go ahead with the plan as the country cannot afford to compromise its security by accommodating such people. In an op-ed published in The Telegraph , he cogently defended the move and said that over the last three to four decades, “between four and five million migrants (roughly the population of Ireland)” had arrived in Pakistan, adding that despite being non-signatory to 1951 Convention on Refugees, Pakistan generously accommodated the single largest case load of refugees.
The arguments forcefully presented by the Prime Minister reflect the overall national thinking on the issue and represent true aspirations and will of the people, who have suffered immensely due to free hand given to illegal immigrants that posed security threats to the state and involved in criminal activities in different parts of the country. Pakistan, these days, is facing a renewed surge in terrorism and there is clear evidence that foreign nationals and foreign arms are being used to carry out terrorist activities. Since August 2021, at least 16 Afghan nationals had carried out suicide attacks inside Pakistan, while 65 terrorists killed in encounters with security forces, mainly in the bordering region, were identified as Afghans.
The malicious nature of propaganda against Pakistan becomes evident from the fact that no other country is ready to open its borders for those being repatriated from Pakistan on justifiable grounds. It is all the more intriguing that the United States, which utilized services of select Afghans in its favour during its occupation of Afghanistan, is not as keen as it should be to accommodate these asylum seekers, who left their country following takeover of the neighbouring country by the Taliban. Of them, only 59,033 have been resettled outside Pakistan, while 42,068 await evacuation to the West. The rest have failed to put forward a convincing case to anyone for asylum, and continue to stay in Pakistan illegally. The Prime Minister also rightly pointed out that despite frequent opportunities to repatriate voluntarily, and multiple government attempts to register those who remain undocumented, a significant number has persistently refused to formalize their status, choosing instead to stay in the shadows. There is, therefore, no justification to allow them to stay illegally and engage in criminal and terrorist activities. No country of the world would allow this and Pakistan is within its right to take the action it deems fit to neutralize the persistent threat to its security and social order.
