Pakistan's Government Sets Deadline For Undocumented Afghan Refugees To Leave The Country
Date
12/14/2022 6:18:34 AM
(MENAFN- Khaama Press) The Interior Ministry of Pakistan has set a deadline for Afghans without legal documentation to leave the country be the end of this year, otherwise, they will be fined or imprisoned.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan have received warnings from the government of Pakistan that if they stay in the country beyond the specified period with no legal residence permit either from the host country or the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), they will face serious consequences.
Over the past months, this is the second time the government of Pakistan is warning foreign nationals, Afghan immigrants, in particular, to extend their stay visas and other legal documents, or else they will have to pay fines to leave the country.
Meanwhile, extending a stay visa has become extremely difficult for Afghan nationals within Pakistan. The online processing time is overwhelmingly time-consuming with no transparency in the process.“It takes months to get a visa extended, and without paying commission, we never get our visa issued,” an Afghan migrant in Islamabad said.
Furthermore, UNHCR Pakistan has stopped issuing 'Asylum Seeker Certificates' and 'Refugee Cards' to those Afghan refugees already registered with this organization since the Taliban's return to power, and the refugee influx to Pakistan, due to some unknown reasons. This puts massive pressure on Afghan migrants living in the country with no legal status.
Those Afghans with SIV, P1, P2, or other personal sponsorship cases, currently rising in Pakistan, are also faced with the same perplexity, not knowing how much longer the processing time of their cases would be, and what penalties they will have to pay to the government of Pakistan by the beginning of 2023.
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