ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior has decided to provide conditional amnesty to around 400,000 illegal immigrants in the country. The decision was made in a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Afghan Affairs on Thursday.
The ministry will provide conditional amnesty to illegal immigrants from India, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and other countries residing in Pakistan. However, full amnesty will be provided to immigrants who are willing to leave the country.
Meanwhile, a summary has been sent to the Federal Cabinet for the final approval of the decision.
The ministry clarified that illegal immigrants will have to leave Pakistan by 31 December 2022 under conditional amnesty. It added that they will not be penalized for staying without a visa after accepting the condition to leave within the deadline.
“No legal action will be taken against foreigners benefiting from amnesty,” it stated. In a related story, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) authorities and a German delegation inaugurated an Urban Refugees Support Unit (URSU) in District Mardan.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by the KP Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Muhammad Abbas Khan, the Head of Development Corporation at the German Embassy Dr. Sebastian Paust, Country Director German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) Tobias Becker, and District Mayor Himayat Ullah Mayar.
The unit’s purpose is to support and assist urban refugees and give them access to service providers. It will also enable vulnerable communities to avail of education and health facilities in the province and will function on a referral system.
Furthermore, it will feature different desks for health, education, livestock protection, and the repatriation issues that Afghan refugees residing in urban and semi-urban regions are facing. These issues will be addressed respectively at each desk.
Commissioner Khan lauded the Government of Germany, the GIZ, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for their constant support in assisting the Afghan refugees and the host state, and highlighted the importance of future collaboration.
German participants commended the Commissioner and praised the Government of Pakistan for its efforts in addressing the world’s longest-running refugee crisis. They were also hopeful that the project will reduce the problems of the Afghan refugees in the province.