PESHAWAR: In a first, a Karachi-based documented Afghan family reached a holding area here on Saturday before boarding a bus for its voluntary repatriation via Torkham border crossing, official said.

They told Dawn here that the refugee family comprising a man, two women and three children possessed valid Afghan Citizen Cards, which granted them permission to live in the country.

The officials said the family wanted to return to Afghanistan voluntarily and approached Peshawar’s holding centre, which was established to house ‘illegal aliens’, with a request for their repatriation via Torkham border crossing, which was located close to their native area of Jalalabad.

Meanwhile, an undocumented Afghan family from Karachi reported to Peshawar’s holding area in the day, according to officials.

They said the family, which consisted of seven men, women and children each, were later sent home via Torkham.

In another development, the interior ministry has exempted members of Afghanistan’s Ismaili community awaiting relocation to the Western countries from arrest by law-enforcement agencies.

The exemption comes in continuation of a letter issued by the ministry on Nov 2 to relieve illegal migrants, who are scheduled to resettle in Western countries, from detention and deportation.

“The Afghan Ismailis currently living in Pakistan are being considered by the Government of Canada for resettlement for which the formalities shall be initiated shortly,” read the latest Interior Ministry letter to the relevant authorities.

The ministry said members of the Afghan Ismaili community should not be “arrested until further notice.”

Also in the day, officials told Dawn that 27 illegal migrants, including six children, two women and four men, were sent to Afghanistan home via Torkham.

They included 11 undocumented refugees from Haripur and one from Mansehra, and 15 detained at the Peshawar Central Prison.

The officials said 123 “illegal” aliens, including 24 men, 24 women and 75 children, left the Hamza Baba holding area in Khyber tribal district for Afghanistan.

They also said 137 undocumented Afghan refugees from Punjab’s Gujrat, Attock, Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Mandi Bahauddin and Chakwal areas were also repatriated via Torkham on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2023