Pakistan orders crackdown on illegal immigrants

LAHORE: The Interior Ministry on Thursday directed law enforcement and intelligence agencies to launch an operation to deport illegal immigrants settled in Pakistan.

There are estimated to be thousands of foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Tanzania, and Ghana illegally settled in Pakistan. Nearly 150,000 Afghanis and 7,000 Africans are settled in Lahore alone, though not all illegally.

Sources said a detailed report had been sent to the Federal Investigation Agency, Police Foreign Branch, Immigration Department and other agencies all over Pakistan outlining the involvement of these foreigners in crime including drug smuggling, illegal weapon sales, robberies and murders. The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) has arrested several foreign gangs and recovered huge quantities of drugs from their possession. Addressing a press conference on June 19, ANF chief Major General Nadeem Ahmad blamed Afghans for introducing heroin to Pakistan. He claimed that 90 percent of Afghan foreign exchange depended on the poppy trade.

Law enforcement agencies also believe that a number of terrorists trained in Afghanistan hide themselves within Afghan refugee camps and several arrests have taken place in Afghan colonies on Bund Road, in Shafiqabad, Shadbagh, Naseerabad and other parts of the city. A crackdown on illegal immigrants has already been conducted by Lahore police in which a number of Africans were arrested from hostels and private residences.