LANDI KOTAL: The authorities on Wednesday imposed strict travelling restrictions on Afghans intending to visit Pakistan via Torkham border amid tight security arrangements to handle any untoward situation.

The border guards were extra vigilant to check visa and passports of every Afghan crossing over to Pakistan. The number of people crossing the border remained thin as Afghan border guards were seen instructing their countrymen not to risk going to Pakistan without legal travel documents.

Emotional scenes were witnessed when some women without documents were not allowed to accompany their male family members, carrying passports with Pakistani visas stamped on them. The men members of the family eventually had to go back to their homeland for the sake of their women relatives.

Elderly persons and women carrying infants also bore the brunt of the new restrictions as they were asked to get back after a long a tiring wait as they did not possess the required legal documents.

The officials at the border were busy in issuing instructions to their subordinates to avoid making any inconvenience to the returning Afghans, who had gathered in a large numbers, making a beeline to the border crossing on a fenced footpath.

The border guards were also given instructions by their officials to allow local tribesmen from both sides bearing temporary Rahdari passes to cross to either side of the border without any hindrance.

Afghan drivers with their heavy vehicles loaded with different items were also given preference to cross over to Afghanistan. However, their colleagues on Afghan side, who were without passports, were not allowed to enter Pakistan despite their clearance from their local custom office.

The new restrictions affected bilateral trade between the two countries as clearing agents closed their offices on Wednesday. Most of the Pakistani drivers with domestic merchandise were also not allowed to go to Afghanistan as they didn’t possess passports.

Officials at the immigration office told Dawn that over 15,000 citizens of both the countries, mostly without travel documents, would cross the border prior to imposition of the visa restriction.

They, however, said that 1,800 to 2,000 Afghan nationals would come to Pakistan with visa stamped on their passports even before the imposition of visa restrictions.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2016