165,000 Afghans cross over into homeland

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Around 165,000 Afghan refugees have crossed over into Afghanistan so far with the border points between the two countries overwhelmed by the scale of exodus.

The majority of Afghan nationals made a dash for the borders to escape the crackdown after the expiry of November 1 deadline.

Meanwhile, Afghan Charge D’affaires, Sardar Ahmad Sheikh, Thursday called on Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti and discussed the repatriation of Afghan nationals from Pakistan and other matters of mutual interest, the interior ministry said.

Bugti said the immigrants staying illegally in Pakistan were returning to their countries.

“We have issued instructions for respectable treatment of the people returning. The Afghans having legal documents would be treated as our guests,” he said.

The interior minister said no legal action was being taken against those holding the Afghan citizen card, adding, “The government will not tolerate discourteous or impolite treatment of the immigrants at any cost.”

He said a control centre and helpline had been established in the Ministry of Interior and invited the Afghan embassy to appoint its representative for liaison over complaints, if any.

The minister informed the Afghan head of mission that women and children would be exempt from biometric formality at the crossing points to facilitate them.

The Afghan government had on Wednesday urged Pakistan to give undocumented Afghans more time to leave as the borders were swarmed by the refugees.

Islamabad had given 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in the country until November 1 to leave voluntarily or they would be repatriated forcibly.

Meanwhile, the authorities have increased facilities for the undocumented Afghan migrants and accelerated their clearance processes, so they do not suffer at the camp set up in Landikotal area or Khyber tribal district.

“Sensing the weather condition and the rush of people, we worked till midnight to clear all those who had gathered at the camp. Because of the hard work of our team, we sent all of them to their country by Wednesday night,” Deputy Commissioner, Khyber tribal district, Abdul Nasir Khan, told The News.

He said 24,000 people had arrived at the camp and all of them were cleared and sent across the border.

Earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday, the border crossing was flooded with thousands of Afghans, who were desperately waiting for their turn at the counters of Nadra set up for clearance of returning migrants.

Majority of the Afghans complained of lack of washrooms and food. There were no sitting arrangements for the migrants in the camp. Some of them said they had been waiting for their clearance for two days. Women, children and elderly people were sitting in vehicles, mostly on open trucks and trailers.

Deputy Commissioner Abdul Nasir Khan said he himself was sitting with the Afghan people in the camp and assured them that they would be sent back the same night, saying he had fulfilled his promise.

He said previously the Afghan government would keep their gate closed after 9pm that would delay the repatriation process but now the gate was open, allowing thousands of Afghans to easily enter their homeland.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Additional Chief Secretary Abid Majeed told The News that the KP government had not yet cracked down on undocumented migrants.

“All these people are leaving voluntarily. There were 51 people in jail with deportation order and they were deported on Wednesday,” Abid Majeed said.

Majority of Afghans who left Pakistan claimed they were born and raised in Pakistan and would be strangers to the people in Afghanistan. Of more than 4 million Afghans living in Pakistan, the federal government has stated that 1.7 million of them are undocumented.

The Afghan government had not made any arrangements for the returnees, apparently they didn’t expect that Pakistan would be too serious this time.

It was on Wednesday when all their senior government officials and members of the 31-member high level commission, constituted by their supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, came to the border area and started making preparations for the stay and food for the returning Afghans.