Thousands From Pakistan Religious Schools Face Deportation

TEHRAN TIMES (Iran) ^ | March 12, 2002 | TEHRAN TIMES POLITICAL DESK

[vannrox]

Thousands From Pakistan Religious Schools Face Deportation

ISLAMABAD


ISLAMABAD -- Thousands of foreign Islamic students face possible deportation as Pakistan moved Monday to tighten visa requirements amid fears religious schools could be fostering militant activities.

"We had given the foreign students three months notice to get their visas regularized by the end of March," Religious Affairs Minister Mahmood Ghazi told AFP.

"Some have complied, some have not. Those who did not will be deported," he said referring to new regulations, which require foreign students to seek clearance from their home countries before their visas are extended.

There are about 10,000 Madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, in Pakistan, which impart religious education to hundreds of thousands of students from throughout the Muslim world.

Some of the Madrassas have been implicated in promoting militancy and sectarianism, and in a landmark January 12 speech President Pervez Musharraf vowed to regulate Islamic schools saying some were guilty of propagating "hatred and intolerance".

Some of the seminaries are run by radical Islamic parties linked to militant outfits fighting against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority Himalayan state of Kashmir or the ousted Taleban militia of Afghanistan.

Ghazi said a law was being formulated to deal with the registration of foreigners and the religious institutions in a bid to regulate the schools' operation.

The minister said around 20,000 of Pakistani Madrassas' students were foreigners, including some 17,000 Afghans.

The rest are from African and Asian countries, including Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.

"There are very few Arabs in our religious schools," he said. Other sources said Arabs were mostly in universities or professional colleges.

Many foreigners came to Pakistan over the years without visas and without fulfilling the legal requirements to study in Pakistan, interior ministry sources told AFP.

They said the government would grant visas to only those foreign students who register themselves with the education ministry and submit certificates from their respective embassies that they are "cleared" for studies in Pakistan.


Pakistan is a frontline ally in the U.S.-led "war on terrorism," providing logistical support to the coalition to rout Al-Qaeda and Taleban extremists from Afghanistan.

[vannrox]

I found this interesting...

[Cinnamon Girl]

Some of the Madrassas have been implicated in promoting militancy and sectarianism, and in a landmark January 12 speech President Pervez Musharraf vowed to regulate Islamic schools saying some were guilty of propagating "hatred and intolerance".

Don't worry everybody! The PA has plenty of harmless schools in Gaza for you to attend!

[waxhaw]

Okay... I'll bite. Why can Pakistan assert their sovereignty and deport "illegal" students/residents and the United States cannot? I've read there's an estimated 311,000 illegal Moslems in the U.S.; as well there are private Moslem schools within the U.S. I guess one major difference is that Pakistan never allowed their media and their courts to be taken over by the marxists... we, on the other hand, continue to allow our courts and our media to tell us what's best for the United States even when it flies in the face of the Constitution and common sense.

[sarasmom]

Actually. I think it comes down to the fact that there is a lot more money involved for "schools" in this country to take tuition up front, and forget the follow up, than there are at Islamic hate factories.

The same concept applies to business,healthcare,farms, etc.We have plenty of laws to stop illegal entry.We also have plenty of people who think a few more bucks in their pocket is worth more the rule of law in this country.And our criminals have lobbyists!