Pakistan opens more border centres to expedite return of undocumented Afghan nationals
Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in Chaman where he had a retail business, said: "We spent three days on the border in Pakistan. We had a very bad situation."
Representative image
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday opened more border centres to expedite the return of tens of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals, an official said, Dawn reported. Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Deputy commissioner for the Khyber district Abdul Nasir Khan said that facilities at the northwestern border crossing of Torkham, where most immigrants are re-entering Afghanistan, have been increased three times to cater to the rising number of returnees. As per Dawn, those arriving in Afghanistan complained of the hardships they had to face to move out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future.
Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in Chaman where he had a retail business, said: "We spent three days on the border in Pakistan. We had a very bad situation." "Thank God that we have arrived back in our country," he said.
It took him six days to leave his home in Pakistan with his 16 family members and belongings to reach a makeshift tent village on the other side of the border.
Rafi accused Pakistani officials of taking bribes to process his repatriation. Pakistan authorities, however, deny the allegations. Rafi rented a house in Kandahar to live temporarily before moving to his ancestral home in Helmand province, as per Dawn.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid recently called on countries hosting Afghan refugees to not forcefully deport them as the migrants do not have any preparation for it yet.
Mujahid also called for tolerance based on Islamic and neighbourly manners, TOLO News reported. TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul. The Taliban spokesperson said Afghans have been forced to migrate to various countries due to the wars over the past 45 years in Afghanistan. As per Mujahid's statement, Afghans have not created problems or destabilization in host countries.
He urged neighbouring countries to treat them properly, TOLO News reported. This comes as the Pakistan caretaker government announced October 31 as the deadline for Afghan refugees to leave the country. The deadline called for nearly 2 million Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan or they will face forced deportation.