Seven Pakistanis escape ‘deportation’ to Afghanistan

Seven Pakistani nationals narrowly avoided deportation on Sunday after authorities verified they were indeed locals and not Afghans as originally thought.

Dawn News reported that the individuals were arrested in Punjab after they failed to confirm their identity. They also could not speak either Urdu or Punjabi.

“They were arrested under Section 14 of Foreigners Act, 1946,” an official told Dawn News, adding that authorities were available to identify them through the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

The men were then all returned to Punjab.

According to official statistics, a total of 594 individuals, arrested under the Foreigners Act, were brought from Punjab for their repatriation to Afghanistan. However, only 565 could be deported and the remaining 29, who turned out to be Pakistanis, were sent back to Punjab.

Officials stated that data of every single individual being repatriated to Afghanistan was part of Nadra record. He said that initially, data of every single Afghan illegal immigrant was being maintained but later the government exempted women and children below the age of 14 from it.

On Sunday, authorities deported 398 illegal immigrants with 333 from Peshawar and 65 from Khyber, they said.