ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to ramp up operations against foreign nationals unlawfully residing in Pakistan, a month after the expiry of a deadline set for around 44,000 Afghan nationals approved for relocation to a third country.

The decision was taken at the third meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and Harden the State Commitree held here under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday.

The government had already announced it would deport thousands of Afghan refugees awaiting resettlementin the West if the prospective host countries didn`t relocate them by April 30. Tens of thousands of Afghans came to Pakistan fearing retribution after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led forces.

An official told Dawn that so far 1.023 million Afghans had been repatriated. He said 135,865 had been repatriated in April and another 65,057 in May. On May 30 alone, 1,483 individuals had been repatriated.

Speaking on the occasion, the interior minister said the federal and provincial agencies must coordinate their efforts to eliminate the illegal spectrum undermining national security, emphasising that all institutions must work together to fully implement the `one-document regime`.

He said that Nadra would provide live data verification facilities at exit points.

Referring to the beggar mafia, Mr Naqvi saidthey must be dealt with strictly as they were tarnishing the country`s image. He highlighted the need to declare begging a non-bailable offence.

As a nationwide crackdown on power theft continues, the meeting was informed by a representative of the power division that Rs142 billion was recovered with the cooperation of the interior ministry and provincial governments. The minister said every possible support was being provided to the Ministry of Energy and provincial governments to prevent electricity theft.

The meeting also reviewed progress on anti-encroachment operations.

Regarding maintenance of law and order, the meeting was briefed that more than 250 intelligence-based operations were being conducted on a daily basis.

It also reviewed progress on the establishment of the Pakistan Port Authority, `Gwadar Safe City Project`,besides the construction of a protection wall was also discussed.

Digital transformation Also, progress on the digitalisation of petrol pumps to curb the sale of illegal and smuggled fuel came under review.

According to new rules, customs officers and the relevant deputy commissioner will have the authority to seal petrol pumps and seize vehicles in case of violations.

During the briefing, it was stated that digital enforcement stations were being set up on the Indus River, while work on an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) was also underway for effective motorway and highway monitoring.

Besides Minister of State for Interior Mohammad Tallal Chaudhry, Punjab Law Minister Sohaib Ahmed Bharti, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Adviser Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif and Gilgit-Baltistan Home Minister Shamsul Haq Lone, federal interior secretary, home secretaries of all provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Federal Inves-tigation Agency director general, Nacta`s national coordinator, Islamabad chief commissioner, coordinator for the National Action Plan and senior officials from security agencies also attended the meeting.