Chairing a meeting at the Interior Ministry, Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar said on Monday that no person’s name would be included in Exit Control List (ECL) indefinitely.
Nisar said that in the past, people’s names had been included in ECL “to punish or please certain people”. He said that clearing or adding someone’s name to ECL should be an easy process and there was no point in simultaneously keeping an ECL and Black List.
During the meeting, the minister directed that that the Interior Ministry should give its recommendations regarding the formation of a single list within a month.
Justifying the criteria for adding a person’s name to ECL, he said that nobody would be included in the list without a valid cause and if a probable cause against the person was not produced within a month then the person may be released.
Nisar said that National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) should devise an effective system for ECL statistics. He said that NADRA should also devise a system for online registration of foreign NGOs as well.