• Official says only four of 90 Afghan nationals brought to holding centre on Friday were illegal refugees • 43 families sent to Torkham border for deportation from Attock

RAWALPINDI: Another group of Afghan nationals detained for living illegally in the Rawalpindi division will be taken to the Torkham border next Friday for deportation as the authorities have fixed two days a week for their shifting from Rawalpindi.

An official said 90 people were brought to the Khayaban-i-Sir Syed holding centre on Friday and only four were found staying illegally in the country.

Talking to Dawn, Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha said there was a week’s time for the district administrations and local police in the six districts of the division to round up foreign nationals illegally staying in the area.

He said the caretaker government had fixed the days for every division of Punjab with Friday and Saturday allocated for the Rawalpindi division. He said so far 86 foreign nationals had been sent to the Torkhan border for deportation.

According to data collected so far by the divisional authorities, the number of ‘illegal residents’ across the division was around 24,018. Out of this, 10,000 people were living in Attock district, 1,200 in Chakwal district, 818 in Jhelum district and 12,000 in Rawalpindi district.

The authorities claimed all these foreign nationals did not have proof of identity.

On the other hand, Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that the district administration had verified through different departments and concluded that 5,000 Afghan nationals had gone back to their homeland from Rawalpindi district voluntarily.

“In Rawalpindi district, there were 26 Afghan settlements identified last month. And, before the end of the deadline, they went back to their homeland,” he said.

However, homework has been completed to round up those staying illegally in the district and shifting them to the holding centre. He said 60 more people were brought to the holding centre and their verification had been started.

The deputy commissioner said to avoid health issues for people who would be deported, two doctors had been deputed round the clock in three shifts along with three nurses and other supporting staff in the dispensary at the centre.

The administration is maintaining the health record of all the foreigners who had been brought to the holding centre.

He said the district administration had also established a counter where data and pictures of all the Afghan nationals were maintained. He said Assistant Commissioner Cantonment Qandeel Fatima was supervising all the proceedings.

“Total 90 people were brought to the Khayaban-i-Sir Syed holding centre on Friday and only four of them were found illegally staying in the country by FIA and Nadra. The government will decide whether they will be deported on Saturday or next week and till then they will stay in the holding centre,” he said.

Meanwhile, a two-member team of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) visited the Khayaban-i-Sir Syed holding centre and expressed satisfaction over the facilities provided to the Afghan nationals by the district administration.

The basic aim of the UNHCR team to visit the holding centre was to release those Afghans who had been provided protection by the United Nations.

Talking to Assistant Commissioner Qandeel Fatima, the representatives of the UNHCR said, “We were impressed by the facilities the administration has provided at Afghan Holding Centre in Rawalpindi. We have visited centres in Islamabad, Attock and other districts, but there are better facilities in this centre.”

43 families in Attock deported

As many as 43 Afghan families from two different holding centres in Attock were dispatched to the Torkham border for repatriation to Afghanistan on Friday.

Before the dispatch, a team of doctors examined the immigrants at the holding centres and later the caravan was escorted by a police squad under strict security.

An official of the district administration said the undocumented immigrants were provided food and medical facilities at these centres, adding that Nadra and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials were busy scrutinising immigrants round the clock at these centres. Those having proper records are set free while the undocumented are sent back, the official said, adding that around 33 people were set free following verification of their documents.

“All our businesses and properties are here, and we will return after getting valid documentation,” said Samiullah, an Afghan immigrant, while sitting on a minivan with his family and belongings. He regretted that some Afghans had spread hate through social media and said these people wanted to create differences between the two neighbours for vested interests.

“I am the second generation born and raised in Attock, and this is my first motherland,” said Rehman Gul, a vegetable seller. He said they were leaving the country with a heavy heart. — Amjad Iqbal in Taxila also contributed to the story

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023