UPDATE - Pakistan sets Nov. 1 deadline for 'illegal immigrants' to leave

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS OF INTERIOR MINISTER'S NEWS CONFERENCE, NO CHANGES IN HEADER, LEDE AND DECK

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Tuesday gave a one-month deadline to all the "illegal immigrants" to leave the country.

Addressing a news conference in the capital Islamabad, caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the government is giving a deadline to all foreigners living illegally to leave the country by Nov. 1.

After the deadline, he said, all the illegal immigrants will be deported.

The government will seize the properties of the illegal immigrants who would not leave the country by Nov 1. A special task force will act against illegally made properties across the country.

The decision was taken at a meeting with interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar in the chair. Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir and other senior officials attended the meeting.

“We have given them a deadline of Nov. 1 to willingly return to their countries and if they don’t, all law enforcement agencies (LEAs) of the state and provinces will deport them,” he said, adding that after Nov.1, no foreigner can enter Pakistan without a passport and valid visa.

Moreover, he added, DNA testing would also be applied to detect those "who are Pakistani identity cardholders despite not being Pakistani."

Pakistan has decided to evict over one million foreigners illegally living in the country, alleging that some of them are involved in "funding and facilitating" terrorist activities.

The minister said out of 24 suicide bombings that have targeted various security installations and civilians in Pakistan since January this year, 14 suicide bombers were Afghan nationals.

- 28 days to leave

Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, later in a post on X, said illegal immigrants now have 28 days to leave Pakistan.

According to the official estimates, Bugti further said, some 1.7 million Afghan refugees are not registered with the government.

State-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that out of a total of 1.1 million foreigners who are posing a serious threat to national security, all illegal residents will be expelled from the country in the first phase.

In the second phase, those with Afghan citizenship and in the third phase, those with proof of residence cards will be evicted.

A plan for eviction of "illegally residing" Afghan refugees has also been approved “as the lot is involved in funding, facilitating and smuggling terrorists whereas 700,000 Afghans have not renewed their proof of residence in Pakistan.”

The latest development coincides with an ongoing crackdown on illegal Afghan refugees amid a fresh spate of terrorist attacks across the country.

If the plan is executed, it will be the biggest expulsion of refugees in the region in recent history.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of "mentoring" militants loyal to outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who have claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attacks.

Kabul, for its part, denies the charge and has reportedly launched a crackdown on the TTP militants in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, arresting approximately 200 terrorists.

Terrorist attacks in Pakistan have increased, with 136 people killed in 65 militant attacks across the country in September, a report published by an Islamabad-based think tank said.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) monthly report, 144 people were injured, including civilians and security personnel, with the organization also including the number of militants injured last month.

According to the latest UN figures, some 1.3 million Afghans enjoy the status of registered refugees, while another 880,000 have legal status to stay in Pakistan.

At least 700 Afghans have been arrested since early September in Karachi alone, and hundreds more in other cities, police figures said.