“We do not know who took the decision, but the new policy is that any Afghan family which migrated after 1951 will be considered illegal immigrants and their CNICs will be blocked after separate verification from the Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau (IB),” he said.
“The decision was probably taken after reports emerged that several refugees who managed to get CNICs had purchased land using backdated documents,” he added further.
“The instructions are clear cut. Any document from 1951 onward will not be accepted and all those who migrated subsequently will be considered illegal immigrants,” he reiterated.
In the wake of the devastating Army Public School massacre which resulted in the death of over 150 people, mostly children, the government intensified its crackdown against Afghan refugees illegally residing in Pakistan. “We consider unregistered Afghan refugees a security threat, that is why law-enforcement agencies have been directed to push them back home,” a senior official of the Ministry of Interior said last month.
There are around 1.6 million Afghan refugees registered with authorities, while around 1 million were residing in Pakistan illegally. Of the latter, it is estimated that up to 200,000 have managed to obtain CNICs without even having registered.
