Islamabad, 18 November 2023 (TDI): During the weekly press briefing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan, on Thursday, the spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said that it is the sovereign right of Pakistan to implement its immigration laws.
The statement was in response to a question about the repatriation of illegal foreigners, specifically Afghan migrants who are illegally residing in Pakistan.
The question was quoted as,” Is Pakistan preparing any dossier to show the evidence that these illegal migrants are not only involved in terrorism in Pakistan but also using Afghan soil for it?”
The context behind the question was that Pakistan is taking steps for repatriation of all illegal foreigners by domestic and international laws.
Although, at the same time voices are being raised in support of Afghan migrants who are illegally residing in the country, at the same time Pakistan has shared evidence that Afghan soil is being used against Pakistan.
In response, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has concerns that terrorist incidents in recent months have links with the terrorist elements based in Afghanistan.
But this does not brand an entire ethnicity or an entire community of people as terrorists or responsible for terrorist incidents.
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She continued her remarks that according to the intelligence information, many of the terrorist networks have links with some individuals staying illegally in Pakistan.
But the decision to repatriate people who violate our immigration laws is a decision irrespective of nationality.
Mumtaz Baloch said, “Pakistan believes that it is our sovereign right to implement our immigration laws under which individuals who are staying here illegally can be deported, as is the case with any country in the world.”
She clearly stated that we do not need to explain countries that have their immigration laws and that they implement them as per their sovereign right.
