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Concern over Afghan, Pakistani refugees here
View(s):Increasing arrivals of Afghans and Pakistanis to register as refugees and asylum seekers at a United Nations agency in Colombo are causing concern to government authorities. Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera said his officials and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives were probing several instances where the asylum seekers were allegedly indulging in illegal activities. These included drug trafficking, human smuggling and business activities.
Afghans and Pakistanis register themselves at the Colombo office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Thereafter they are free to go about their business,” said a detective familiar with these activities. Mr. Perera said there was no system in the UNHCR to keep these individuals segregated from the local communities, thus making it difficult to curb any illegal activities. “Many Pakistanis come to Sri Lanka as family units. They have enough money and return tickets. They pretend to be tourists and get a tourist visa on arrival. Once they enter the country they go to the UNHCR and apply for asylum in a third country. They are given a letter to this effect by the UNHCR. The UNHCR sends us the details requesting our consent,” he said.
The Immigration Department was finding it difficult to give its consent to all such requests as it has been found that many of those who registered with the UN agency were indulging in illegal activities, he said.
However a UNHCR spokesman denied knowledge of any asylum seekers engaging in illegal activities in Sri Lanka. “We are not aware of such information. All registered asylum seekers and refugees have signed a declaration with the UNHCR stating that they will abide by the local laws,” a spokesperson said.
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