Illegal immigrants: Pakistan's stance on Afghans
World
Pakistan’s policy on illegal immigrants is aligned with global norms
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - US President Donald Trump has started deporting illegal immigrants as he announced in his election campaign to make “America great again” and secure again.
The silence of the world on the Trump administration’s stance manifests the duplicity and hypocrisy of the world on a sensitive issue – illegal immigration. The other day Trump announced to place 30,000 illegal immigrants whom their countries refuse to take back in the infamous Guantanamo Bay facility where people allegedly involved in 9/11 attacks on America were detained.
Ironically, when Pakistan started deporting hundreds of thousands of Afghans illegally residing in the country, the US, the West and global rights organisation raised hue and cry.
The need to deport these illegal immigrants arose when they start committing crimes. It is a sovereign right of a country to secure the lives of its citizens by deporting such people. The importance of deportation of illegal immigrants enhances for economic reasons.
Interestingly, the US justifies similar policies on national security and economic grounds.
Pakistan’s policy on illegal immigrants is aligned with global norms. No nation is obligated to host illegal immigrants indefinitely. Pakistan is forced to enforce a legal and just policy to safeguard its security, economy, and sovereignty. Under the new Trump administration, the US is using the same premise to deport illegal immigrants but the rights groups are keeping mum. More shameful is the US act as it deported illegal immigrants “handcuffed” on military planes.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s policy has left thousands of Afghans stranded whom the US government had announced to accept as they have been facing persecution under the Taliban “for helping American forces” during the operations against “terrorists” since 2001.
It is interesting to note that the PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) and Afghan officials exploited the situation for political gain, distorting Pakistan’s lawful policy while ignoring its decades-long generosity in hosting more than four million Afghan refugees despite significant economic and security challenges.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. Islamabad has no obligation to accommodate refugees as envisaged in the convention. Yet, it hosted Afghan nationals as a goodwill gesture, not due to any international commitment. To make situation worse for Pakistan, the UNHCR unilaterally registered thousands of asylum seekers without Pakistan’s coordination, undermining its sovereignty. Additionally, the US and the UK disrupted implementation of “Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan” (IFRP) on various pretexts.
Now let’s look at the involvement of illegal Afghan immigrants in crimes as reported by Pakistani media:
• 225 Afghans arrested for street crimes in Karachi (Jan 30, 2025).
• PKR 35 million were recovered from Afghan robbers (Jan 25, 2025).
• Crime surged in Peshawar by 30% (Nov 2024); 60% of street crime suspects are Afghans.
• Authorities arrested 352 Afghan involved in crimes in Peshawar’s crackdown (Nov 2024).
• A militant, Mohammad Khan Ahmed Khel, killed in a Zhob clash with security forces was an Afghan national (Jan 2025).
Pakistan in October 2023, announced ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’ and gave a 30-day deadline to “undocumented” Afghan refugees to leave the country voluntarily. After the expiry of the deadline, around half a million Afghans were deported, instead of 800,000 identified by the Pakistani security and intelligence agencies as undocumented refugees.
If the West really cares, it should shelter Afghans instead of criticising Pakistan.
