Rights bodies demand official policy on Afghani immigrants.

Byline: Zia Qureshi

KARACHI -- A meeting of the independent human rights commissions and civil society was held here on Monday demanded the Sindh government to come up with a clear policy on Afghan immigrants including their status and make sure that all Afghanis must be repatriated respectfully and their stay in Pakistan should be governed under the UN regulations. Co-chaired by Justice (Retd.) Majida Razvi, Chairperson of SHRC and Ms. Anis Haroon, Member of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) the meeting was also attended by Ms. Nuzhat Shirin, Chairperson Sindh Status of Women Commission (SCSW), Ms. Mehnaz Rehman, Coordinator of JAC and human rights activists Prof. Asghar Dashti, Adam Malik, Shahid Jatoi, Naghma Iqtidar, Wahid Baloch, Sarah Zaman, Anita Panjani, Jugdesh Ahuja Shireen Ajaz and others.

The participants expressed serious concern over the government's ignorance to register, monitor and take action against illegal immigrants in the country. They pointed out that Karachi is already overwhelmed with population influx, particularly people from other provinces or even from other countries. The city's socio-economic and civic infrastructure could not withstand this unchecked tendency hence steps should be taken to stop any further population influx in Sindh. Ethnic realities of Sindh should be acknowledged and a proper dialogue should be initiated to find a just and lasting solution for peaceful coexistence, they said adding that political parties should stop risking the ethnic balance of the province and particularly in Karachi at the cost of their electoral compromises. Laws and regulations, governing demography should be revisited and reformed per existing realities, they said adding that the Sindh government is spending huge funds on Rangers, however, the paramilitary force has failed to play an effective role in averting the riots, which disturbed the city life and in many parts of the province for many days recently. Sindh police should be strengthened and trained on how to deal with such...