EFP demands to evict Afghan refugees from cities

KARACHI: The Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) demanded on Friday that the Sindh government and law-enforcing agencies implement a fast-track strategy to evict Afghan refugees from Karachi and other cities.

"The influx of Afghan Refugees in Karachi has taken on mammoth proportions and there is a continuous inflow of these refugees who desert their designated camps and make their way into Karachi and other cities," said Zaki Ahmed Khan, Vice President EFP.

According to an EFP statement, Khan demanded that the refugees be made to return to their camps in the northern areas of Pakistan so "they could be repatriated across the border."

The EFP vice president claimed, "most of the refugees are heavily involved in supplying narcotics, transportation of lethal weapons, smuggling of commodities and goods," adding that they motivate their children to become garbage scavengers and waste-pickers, thus indulging in the worst form of child labour.

Khan blamed the garbage problem in the metropolis to be a result of an Afghan refugee controlled 'garbage mafia' that makes sure the garbage problem remains unsolved so they may benefit from it, according to the statement.