Decision of Pakistan government to flush out the illegal immigrants is appreciable and merits uncompromising cautious execution. Emphasis on the element of caution seems fairly justified as the recently announced policy revolves around the overwhelming influx of Afghan immigrants who manage to enter Pakistan through illegal means. No one should discard the fact that decision of a crackdown on illegal Afghanis was announced under the plentiful security and economic compulsions.
Presence of Afghan citizens all across the Pakistan is an undeniable fact. Afghanis can be seen doing all sort of businesses with full liberty in cities and towns. These businesses include street vendors, transport, labour and multiple trades in business hubs located in traditional markets as well as posh malls. This unprecedented ingress of Afghan citizens in society speaks volumes about the traditional hospitality of Pakistan.
At the same time, unregulated influx of foreigners is an alarming indication of security gaps. Terrorist groups are freely exploiting such gaps to inflicting irreparable damages to Pakistan. Disclosures about growing involvement of Afghan citizens in terrorist attacks are too serious to ignore. Concerns of Pakistan over frequent terrorism from inside Afghanistan merit a serious response from the ruling regime of Kabul.
Persistent lukewarm response on the issue of cross border terrorism from Afghanistan side during Ashraf Ghani tenure was a source of discontent for Pakistan. Replay of old policy of denial on such a sensitive issue was not expected from Interim Afghan government.
However, against all the expectations, anti-Pakistan groups especially TTP and its splinter groups have geared up the terrorism drive in Pakistan with their bases intact in Afghanistan. This is a matter of grave concern for Pakistan as any effort to reverse the successes of war against terrorism means nothing but an anti-state maneuver.
There is a delicate link between the surging terrorism and the influx of illegal immigrants from Afghanistan. Investigations reveal the undeniable involvement of Afghan citizens in 14 out of 24 terrorist attacks during 2023. It is worth noting that all these attacks were acclaimed by the anti-Pakistan terrorist groups operating freely from the Afghan soil. A glance at the statistics about the presence of Afghan citizens adds more the concerns of Pakistan.
There are 3.7 million Afghanis in Pakistan out of which only 1.3 million are registered officially and hold ‘Proof of Registration’ (POR) card. Another 0.88 million Afghanis hold Afghan Citizenship card (ACC) issued as one-time measure. This becomes clear that 1.7 million Afghanis are roaming freely in Pakistan without fulfilling any sort of immigration or legal formalities.
Recently announced deadline is precisely pointed at this alien cadre. Pakistan has neither warned legally registered Afghan refugees nor intends to disturb them by any means in the future. As a matter of policy, the state of Pakistan believes in maintaining the trust based brotherly relations with war torn Afghanistan to restore the lost regional peace. Pakistan has been warmly hosting Afghan brethren, amid Russian invasion, since 44 years. Third generation of Afghan refugees is living happily in Pakistan. Despite multiple economic and security concerns, Pakistan has always advocated for stability of Afghanistan at all international forums. Unfortunately, ill-governed instable Afghanistan is constantly posing multiple threats to Pakistan.
In addition to the cross-border terrorism issue Pakistan is encountering a complicated challenge from Afghanistan in the form of frequent smuggling of commodities, unregulated pilferage of dollars, influx of illegal immigrants, drugs inflow and arms trafficking.
Afghan Interim Government should move beyond verbal commitments in addressing the genuine concerns of Pakistan on all sensitive issues. Hype created on deportation of illegal immigrants by some overcharged commentators might damage the fragile social dynamics. It is about time for our Afghan friends to understand that luxury of roaming freely without legal formalities is not available to foreigners in any part of the world.
Privileges misused extensively on account of undefined brotherhood by illegal Afghan immigrants have widely damaged the Pakistan. Clamping down the unregistered aliens is a belated right step in right direction. Plugging of this gap is likely to restrict the undetected presence of terrorists on Pakistani soil in the garb of refugees. In the light of a recent decree of Afghan scholars forbidding misinterpreted concept of Jihad outside Afghanistan, activities of TTP, ISKP and their splinter groups against Pakistan are unislamic.
Restoration of regional peace will remain a far cry unless ruling cadre in Afghanistan adopts a rehashed stance on the concerns of neighboring countries. Repatriation of Afghan citizens from foreign lands including Pakistan, if takes place as a top priority, would substantiate the claims of Interim government about the restoration of economy and stability under their rule.
Dead line announced by Pakistan about ouster of illegal immigrants should be viewed unbiasedly in true context of security and economic compulsions. Reciprocal positive response from Kabul would be essential to address the shared responsibilities on account of counter terrorism, regional security, drug and narco trafficking.
