KP’s interior dept says more than 9m Afghan refugees are living in the province
Haqnawaz Shinwari
PESHAWAR
As many as 597 Afghan refugees have obtained Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC) fraudulently in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to the provincial interior department, the KP government has completed the process of data collection of Afghan refugees in the province and revealed that 597 CNICs cards were fraudulently obtained by Afghan nationals. Currently, the KP government has traced 9, 26,720 Afghan refugees living in the province. Of which, 2 85000 are living in settled and 220 39 are living in the newly merged areas of the province.
According to the statistics, KP Police have arrested over 3 911 Afghan citizens for allegedly being involved in different crime cases.
It added that 105 Afghan citizens are serving as imams in different mosques of the province.
The number of Afghan citizens with Proof of Registration (PoR) is 648, 968 in the province.
According to KP home department, the provincial government has no effective mechanism to monitor the overall activities of the Afghan citizens residing in different parts of the province.
Similarly, the government is also clueless regarding the businesses of Afghan citizens in the province. Pakistan has one embassy and four consulate generals in Afghanistan from which an average of 550 visas are issued daily.
In the year 2021, 4 09 653 visas were issued. In the year 2022, there was a decrease in the issuance of visas and 249 720 visas were issued, while in the year 2023 there was a further decrease and so far 116 418 visas have been issued.
Recommendations related to Afghan refugees have also been made, in which it has been said that a central and provincial task force should be established for the mapping of Afghan citizens and their transportation along with all the data so that terrorism can also be prevented.
Similarly, the national identity cards issued to Afghan citizens should be canceled immediately. The process of biometric authentication must be started at Pak-Afghan border and this facility should be provided at all points.
In order to identify illegal Afghan citizens, the public should be provided with a toll-free number on which they can report, while mapping of the businesses and owned properties of Afghan citizens across the province should be started so that an action plan can be drawn up in this regard.
