Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday announced to grant nationality to hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Bengalis born in Pakistan -- a move likely to invite ire from nationalists.
Khan made the announcement at a ceremony in southern port city of Karachi, which has the largest population of Afghan refugees and illegal Bengali immigrants.
"Many Afghans and Bengalis have been living here for last 40-50 years. Their children were born here. We will Insha Allah (God willing) issue national identification cards and passports," Khan said addressing a fund raising dinner for construction of dams at governor house Sindh, for which Karachi is the capital.
The first-time premier attached the grant of nationality to law and order in the province, mainly Karachi, the country's commercial capital.
"An entire generation (of Afghans and Bengalis) was born and raised here. But they do not have national ID cards and passports, therefore they cannot get jobs. This ultimately push them to criminal activities and street crimes" Khan observed.
Home to over 15 million people, Karachi is the country's most populated city, and has earned notoriety for political and criminal violence, particularly street crimes in recent decades.
The metropolis is also home to over 2 million Afghan refugees and illegal Bengali immigrants.
Pakistan hosts 1.6 million registered and over a million illegal Afghan refugees.
Khan's announcement is to benefit a large number of Afghans and Bengalis, particularly Beharis -- the people who had first migrated to Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1947 following the creation of Pakistan, and then to Pakistan (then West Pakistan) in 1971 following the creation of Bangladesh.
However, the move is very much likely to draw opposition from Sindhi nationalists who already see the presence of refugees and immigrants as a "burden on local resources."
They fear that the growing number of immigrants in Sindh, the country's second largest province, will disbalance the population equilibrium in the province.
Sindh, especially Karachi, has long been witnessing ethnic tensions between the local Sindhis and Mohajirs -- the Urdu speaking people who migrated from India in 1947 following the creation of Pakistan.
