PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtu nkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Wednesday specified time for general debates on the alleged forced return and harassment of Afghan refugees at the hands of police and the security forces in the province.
“As the matter related to Afghan refugees has been raised time and again by honourable lawmakers on the assembly floor so I specify the private member day (Friday) for general debate,” the speaker said.
His remarks came after Qaumi Watan Party Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Meraj Humayun told the House that even those Afghans, who possessed legal documents, were being harassed. The MPA said that she had submitted a privilege motion to the assembly secretariat, which was not included in the routine agenda.
“A few days back security personnel at a checkpoint in Peshawar Cantonment stopped my car and kept me waiting for hours as my private driver was an Afghan national who held the proof of registration (PoR) card and other legal documents for his stay in Peshawar,” she recalled.
She said that her house was located in the Cantonment and she would now needed permission to enter her home.Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan informed the House that he and Sikandar Sherpao (Senior Minister) had called on Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to apprise him of alleged harassment of Afghan refugees in Peshawar and other parts of the province.
“The Afghan refugees have been staying in Pakistan for more than three decades and their return to Afghanistan should be dignified,” he said and added that the PTI-led government should devise a policy on the status of the Afghan refugees living in the province.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed the Local Government (amendment) Bill 2016, which drew mixed reaction from the treasury benches.
Under the new amendments, a district or tehsil and town nazim would have to get vote of confidence after failing to pass the annual budget. The district or tehsil nazims would need majority of the total present members during their elections.
Opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman said the government was making amendments to the local government system to facilitate district and tehsil nazims having affiliations with the ruling parties.
“The government has been victimising those nazims, who were elected on the tickets of the opposition parties in local government election,” he claimed. The session was adjourned till Friday afternoon.https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/141619-Alleged-harassment-of-Afghan-refugees
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