The process of the renewal of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards for Afghan refugees will be completed soon. "The Afghan refugees will get the new renewed PoRs by the end of February", Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Najmuddin Khan, told APP on Saturday.
The Minister said that the National Data Registration Authority (Nadra) had cancelled 12,769 NICs, which were applied by Afghan refugees. He said that the government would take strict action against those Afghan refugees, who had obtained fake Pakistani identity cards or possessed illegal estate and property.
However, he assured that any one, who had purchased property legally, would not be sentenced. The Nadra was using biometrics system making the issuance of identity cards more secure. Pakistan faces a huge task of repatriation of 1.6 million registered and over three million unregistered Afghan refugees to their country. All the stakeholders are required to co-ordinate their efforts to meet the daunting challenge, he said. "If we achieve the objective, we will won the ongoing war on terror by 80 percent", he added.
He said that Pakistan was annually spending over US $2 billion on the Afghan refugees. Besides 1.6 million registered refugees, over three million unregistered ones had been residing in the country for the last three decades. Najmuddin Khan said that the unregistered Afghan refugees were creating social and economic problems in the country.
The Minister urged all the stakeholders to ensure the voluntary repatriation of registered refugees and deportation of unregistered refugees from Pakistan. He said that all the unregistered Afghans refugees should be deported at all costs. The Interior Ministry, provincial governments, law enforcement agencies would have to join hands for the purpose. The Safron Minister said that permits would be issued to the registered Afghan refugees only for business and purchase of property on temporary basis.
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