KHYBER: Pakistan on Sunday again granted temporary permission to hundreds of Afghan nationals without valid travel documents to return to their country on humanitarian basis.

Officials at Torkham border told Dawn that scores of Afghans were stranded in different parts of Pakistan as they entered the country without visa and carried their national identity cards (tazkira) only.

They said those illegal Afghans had gathered near the border point expecting yet another “goodwill gesture” from the Pakistan government to let them go home before the imminent Eidul Azha festival.

The Afghan nationals, including women and children, took temporary shelter near the border crossing to protect themselves from the scorching heat.

Many of them complained about dehydration and heat-related problems, while others insisted that they had run out of cash due to their prolonged stay near the border.

Local trader and philanthropist Qari Nazeemullah said he along with some other volunteers had to arrange water, food and essential medicines for the stranded Afghans, who were desperate to celebrate Eid with family and friends in Afghanistan but couldn’t return for being without proper travel documents.

Torkham officials say permission given on humanitarian grounds

He said his group tried to persuade Pakistani authorities to grant permission to Afghans with tazkira to go home as the government had granted similar concessions to Afghans on a number of occasions since visa restrictions were imposed in June 2016.

Immigration authorities at Torkham told Dawn that they received instructions from high-ups about the temporary permission for illegal Afghans to return late on Saturday, so the stranded Afghan were allowed to cross into Afghanistan early on Sunday.

Officials said the jubilant Afghans, both men and women, literally ran towards the border crossing to enter their homeland and escape the very hot weather, which they had suffered for four to five days.

They said women, children and the elderly were the first to be allowed to return, while the others followed them.

Though the exact number of returning Afghans wasn’t known, sources claimed that over 2,000 people had gone back to Afghanistan by evening and many more were to follow them.

Officials said that all Afghan nationals carrying tazkira would be “facilitated” to return in order to enable them to celebrate Eid with families and friends.

Meanwhile, scores of residents of Bacha Maina residential compound near Torkham held a demonstration against the suspension of water supply to their houses from the nearby Landi Khana water supply scheme.

Resident Sabir Khan complained that suspension of water supply had added to the misery of the people already hit by the excessive power cuts in hot and humid weather.

He told Dawn that water supply was disconnected to the entire Bacha Maina compound a few days ago due to the damage to a pipeline near Michni checkpost.

“We have to fetch water in buckets and drums from far-off places in a very hot weather besides arranging water bowsers on payment,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2023