Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced on Sunday a major overhaul for the Exit Control List (ECL) while speaking to media representatives. “The authority for the ECL will now be solely with the Interior ministry, and no other department would have the authority to add individuals on the list,” said Nisar. The interior minister also said that 5,000 names on the interior ministry’s ECL would be struck off. “There are thousands of names on the ECL which have no justification, and hundreds are from as far back as 1985,” added Nisar. “A large number of names are on the list from the 1990s, and names were added on a whim by previous ministers and governments. Once on the list, people were restricted from travelling,” stated the interior minister. The interior minister also said that there are more than 8,000 names on the ECL, which is unacceptable for a democratic society. The freedom of movement and the right to travel are basic human rights and the state cannot restrict them without due cause. There is no evidence to suggest that the ECL has ever prevented any terrorist attacks or whether it has been useful in any other way. Chaudhry Nisar’s decision to revisit the Exit and Passport Control Lists is one that is long overdue. Now, it can only be hoped that the reform prescribed by the interior minister is both legislated and implemented. Whereas previously there was no universal procedure or policy governing the ECL and any department of the state could put whomever they wished on the list, Chaudhry Nisar has said that the government is now developing a policy to regulate the ECL and no department other than the interior ministry will be able to put people on the ECL. The agencies and departments that have added names to the ECL in the past have been given 30 days to provide justifications for each case. People have been barred from travelling outside the country for decades (some since 1985) without review after being unfortunate enough to end up on the ECL. The new policy would restrict the travel ban to a maximum of three years, with a review every six months. However, according to Chaudhry Nisar, this ban would not apply to members of proscribed groups, army deserters or people affiliated with Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Although the interior minister’s drive to regulate and reform a system that had been used rather arbitrarily in the past is a welcome one, this loophole could lead to people being put on the list after being wrongfully accused of affiliation with a terrorist organisation.
pk.shafaqna.com
