The government on Thursday decided to regularise the movement of foreigners and any foreigner or diplomat will be sent back to his duty station if found without a legal permit for visiting a particular area. A high-level meeting, with representation of the provincial police officers and home secretaries, was held at the Ministry of Interior with Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the chair.
The meeting requested the Foreign Ministry to re-circulate the SOP on the movement of foreigners among the diplomatic community. It was decided that a networking arrangement between NADRA, Foreign and Interior ministries for regulating the movement of the foreigners and diplomats would be established and the registration of vehicles and driving licences of foreigners would be brought under the prescribed ambit.
Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments were asked to send recommendations to allow travellers to Afghanistan only through biometric facility. The Foreign Ministry was once again requested to approach Afghan authorities to make the biometric facility available on their side. The meeting directed the authorities concerned to monitor the activities of proscribed organisations vigorously, including the setting up of community policing for intelligence gathering.
The meeting said no proscribed organisation would be allowed to undertake any social or political activity and the provincial governments were also directed to strictly observe the activities of these banned organiations. The meeting was told that a request by provincial governments to allow provincial law enforcement agencies (LEAs) access to data of mobile phones was under consideration and modalities were being worked for fast track availability of the data to the LEAs.
It was decided in the last meeting that cell phone SIMs without proper identity would be blocked and following the decision, PTA had worked out the modalities for the blockage. Accordingly, 0.87 million such SIMs have been blocked so far and the target of 3.5 million such SIMs would be met within the next three months. The interior minister, however, said that any subscriber who could prove his identity should be allowed to get the SIM reactivated immediately.
The meeting observed that there was a requirement to make a comprehensive policy regarding the movement and camping of Afghan nationals in Pakistan. An exclusive meeting on the issue, with all stakeholders, would be held shortly. The committee recommended extending the Safe City Project to all provincial headquarters, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, to enhance security measures.
