KOHAT: As the third and final deadline of August 31 for the illegal Afghan refugees for voluntary return to their country draws closer, only seven hundred and seventy individuals including seven families have repatriated to Afghanistan, so far.
Afghan Maliks said that many of their people were sick and under treatment, so they could not be forced to leave for Afghanistan, a country where health facilities were scarce, besides education and jobs.
Malik Awal Khan also expressed similar concerns, saying they had no houses there as well as businesses for survival.
The district administrator of the Afghan refugees, Amanullah Wazir, told Dawn on Friday that the third period granted to Afghans by the government for voluntary return was going to expire, adding they were awaiting the final decision of the government about the fate of the refugees after the deadline.
Giving breakdown, he informed that the number of deportees holding proof of registration was 364. However, he said, the validity of these cards was extended only until August 31, 2025, and from September 1, the government would proceed with the deportation of thousands of them.
Similarly, a total of two hundred and thirty three holding Afghan citizen cards had been repatriated.
He elaborated that these individual Afghans had vacated their decades old abodes of the Cheechanna/ Jarma cluster camp, Ghulam Banda and Ublan, adding that from the three camps of Ghamkol Sharif none had left for their homeland, he added.
CRICKET TRIALS: The Lahore Qalandar’s two-day open talent hunt cricket trials, being jointly organised by the district administration and regional sports office Kohat division, will be held on September 2 and 3 at the Kohat Sports Complex.
Young cricketers had been urged to participate in large numbers to avail this golden opportunity and secure a place at the international level, said a press statement on Friday.
A 14-member international selection team of the renowned PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars would supervise the trials. Boys’ trials will be conducted on Tuesday, September 2, while the girls’ trials will take place on Wednesday, September 3.
It may be mentioned here that these are open trials with an age limit of 15 to 25 years.
Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2025