Peshawar:
Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), called on the government to grant citizenship to Afghan nationals instead of expeling them.
“Afghan refugees are our neighbors. We once welcomed them with open arms, but we now follow a failed policy,” said Gandapur, a senior PTI, on Sunday when he was addressed to a press conference after organizing an IFTar dinner at the home of the KP chief.
On March 9, Pakistan published a deadline for 24 days for Afghan migrants to leave the country voluntarily, warning that those who stay after March 31 will be faced with forced expulsion, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior.
The directive applies to holders of the Afghan citizen card (ACC) as well as all undocumented Afghan nationals. The press release also warned that from April 1, the authorities would launch a national operation to expel the remaining Afghan migrants.
“ACC holders must leave Pakistan by March 31, 2025. All undocumented foreign nationals and ACCT holders are invited to go out voluntarily before this deadline. The expulsion process will start on April 1, 2025,” the statement said.
Speaking on the question, Gandapur firmly opposed the expulsion of the Afghans, calling him an unworthy approach. He urged the government to reconsider its decision and to avoid forced moves.
“I oppose the expulsion of the Afghans residing in our province. The reference conditions (twists) were sent to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Interior for negotiations with Afghanistan, but no answer has yet been received. Meanwhile, my proposal for talks has been criticized and taken as a joke.”
Gandapur also criticized the federal government, accusing its incompetence for the deterioration of the KP security situation and Balutchistan.
“They must review and modify their policies; if not, it will not take long for conditions similar to those of 1971 to emerge,” he warned.
He also alleged that the establishment had put everything into play just to remove a political party – PTI. Gandapur rejected the assertions that the founder of the PTI, Imran Khan, was responsible for the country’s current crisis.
Discussing the financial performance of his government, the chief minister said that when his administration had taken care of, there was not even enough money to pay 15 days of wages of the government.
“Now we have a surplus of RS169 billion. We have authorized 72 billion rupees in contribution, increased the resources by 55% and reduces the debt of the province by 552 billion rupees to 50 billion rupees.
During Ramazan, he said, the government has distributed 20 billion rupees among disadvantaged and insignificant children’s allowances and increased Zakat payments from 12,000 rupees to RS25,000.
