Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s local authorities have decided to deport around 530 illegally-settled Afghan nationals from the country following the end of their sentences, according to documents of the Sindh Home Department.
Afghan immigrants have been released after they completed their sentences in different jails across Sindh. All the released Afghan prisoners have completed their two-month-long sentences awarded by different courts, a local television channel reported on Saturday.
Illegal Afghan immigrants in Pakistani jails
Around 800 illegal Afghan immigrants are still imprisoned in different jails in Sindh. Police officers have been directed to hold the prisoners in custody and take them to the Chaman border with Afghanistan.
The Sindh provincial home department has ordered to also inform the Afghan Consulate in Karachi regarding the deportation of Afghan nationals, the news channel reported citing an official document.
Around 169 men were freed from the Hyderabad prison, and 148 nationals were released from the Karachi prison. Therefore, 317 Afghan prisoners were released from both jails.
Nearly 41 children were freed from Karachi and Hyderabad juvenile prisons. From Hyderabad and Karachi women’s jails, 56 and 32 Afghan female prisoners were released, respectively. At least 84 children were released with their mothers who were imprisoned as illegal immigrants.
