ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry has put the number of illegal immigrants in Karachi at about two million, but the figure is not much different from what was estimated in 1994.

According to a report prepared by the interior division, the metropolitan city housed 1.626m illegal immigrants in 1994 and another survey carried out through 2003-2009 put the number at 1.885m.

The report had found that 113,850 illegal immigrants resided in district East, 338,103 in West, 26,815 in South and 7,997 in Central. It said most of Afghans (634,300) were present in district East.

The second survey conducted by the National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara) showed the number of illegal immigrants at 1.885m, registering an increase of about 200,000 people.

According to independent estimates, the city’s population has risen to over 20m, but the number of illegal immigrants did not go up accordingly.

According to the 1998 census, population of Karachi was 9.8m.

The interior ministry admitted that no countrywide survey had been conducted to ascertain the actual number of illegal immigrants living in major cities of the country.

An official of the interior ministry said the second report looked closer to the real population of illegal immigrants in Karachi. “It is an open secret that since 2001 the city of Karachi has witnessed a major influx of foreigners, notably Afghans, and no federal or provincial government agency possesses credible data about their exact number.”

The official told Dawn that the lack of credible data about illegal immigrants living in Karachi had affected the success of the ongoing targeted operation against criminals in the city.