Islamabad (Web Desk): The repatriation of illegal foreign nationals including Afghans to their homeland continued on Friday.
According to details, thousands of illegal Afghans are returning to their homeland every day from Chaman and Torkham border.
At least 19344 Afghans went to their country on Thursday, the Radio Pakistan reported.
Temporary transit camps for illegal foreign nationals have been set up in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan where food, bed and medical facilities have been made available.
It has been decided to keep Torkham border open till 11pm today after talks with the relevant Afghan authorities.
Earlier on Thursday, the Foreign Office (FO) while calling the policy on repatriation of illegal foreigners consistent with domestic laws and international norms, reiterated that the process would continue in an orderly and phased manner without any reconsideration.
"The policy is very clear… Individuals who are illegals, who do not possess legal documents, who have overstayed their visas will be repatriated. So, there is, at this point, no reconsideration of the policy,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing a day after the policy came into effect over the expiry of the October 31 deadline.
She explained that the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) applied to all foreigners residing illegally in Pakistan, irrespective of their nationality and country of origin. However, it was not applicable to individuals enjoying refugee status.
Asked about the number of countries whose nationals were being repatriated, the spokesperson said it could be approximately a dozen, or maybe slightly fewer.
She said the government was in contact with those countries and the lists provided by such countries were under discussion between the two sides.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the government was also engaged with a number of countries, including the United States, with respect to Afghan individuals who were to be resettled in third countries.
"These consultations continue and Pakistan has impressed on these governments to expedite their visas and approval processes so that they can leave for their destinations without further delay," the FO spokesperson said.