'Crackdown Not Aimed At Any Nationality': Pak After Taliban Slam Move To Send Back Illegal Immigrants By Nov 1

The Pakistan's caretaker government said it ongoing crackdown against illegal immigrants was not aimed at any nationality after ruling Taliban in Afghanistan slammed the move.

The Pakistan government on Thursday said that its ongoing operation against illegal immigrants in the country was not targeted against people of any particular nationality. The clarification came after Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban had slammed Islamabad for its decision terming it “unacceptable.” The Pakistan’s caretaker government had on Tuesday set November 1 as the deadline for thousands of undocumented immigrants, including Afghan nationals, to leave the country or risk imprisonment and deportation. 

The move comes as Islamabad intensified its crackdown against those involved in militancy and smuggling. 

Reacting to the decision, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan on Wednesday said that the decision by the Pakistani government was “unacceptable”. 

"The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan. Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan's security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Responding to a question at the Foreign Office's weekly briefing in Islamabad, spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the ongoing action envisages repatriation of individuals who have either remained in Pakistan beyond their visa or do not possess "valid" documents to stay in the country, as per a PTI report. 

“Pakistan is within parameters of its sovereign domestic laws to take action in this context,” she said.

Baloch also clarified that the ongoing operation had nothing to do with the 1.4 million Afghan refugees that Pakistan has been hosting for decades "despite its own constrained economic situation".

Pakistan's national policy on Afghan refugees "remains unchanged" and their safe and honourable repatriation is a "separate matter" on which Islamabad continues to engage with Afghanistan, the spokesperson said.

Replying to another question, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has very clearly articulated its concerns over the use of Afghan soil for terrorism. "Islamabad, while believing in diplomacy and dialogue, continues engagement with Kabul to fight the threat," she said.