Hundreds of Afghan families return home daily

PESHAWAR: The repatriation of Afghan nationals to their homeland continued with hundreds of families leaving for their country via Torkham daily after spending decades in Pakistan.

No strict action, however, has been taken against any Afghan family despite the end of the deadline on August 31. They are being asked with respect to return home since their documents were not valid anymore.

The KP Home Department last month asked all the Afghan nationals in the province to return to their country as their Proof of Registration cards and other documents have expired. They were asked to leave before August 31.

The voluntary return of these Afghan has been continuing for the last many months.An official said over 2400 Afghans returned to their homeland via Torkham on Wednesday. Hundreds of families are returning via Torkham and other routes daily after the deadline for their stay in the country ends.

In the last many months over 740,000 Afghan nationals have returned to their country from KP, with majority of them having no document to legalise their stay in Pakistan. An official said teams had been constituted at the subdivisional level to identify Afghan families in their area.

Assistant commissioner of the area along with deputy superintendent of police and other concerned officials will supervise the operations in their respective areas.Police across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have started checking for foreigners without visas and valid travel documents after the end of deadline for the Afghan refugees on August 31. No strict action, however, has been ordered by the government or police. The cops in districts have been instructed to address the issue with respect and not humiliate any refugee family.

“Following the instructions of authorities, a special checking campaign has begun from September 1 regarding foreigners. All police officers are directed to check Afghan nationals in their respective areas, including those with PoR or ACC cardholders,” said letter by a district police officer. Similar orders were issued in other districts and divisions.

The cops were directed the details of foreigners should be verified properly during checking, and those without valid documents should be asked to leave. Anyone found involved in illegal stay or without valid documents must be reported, and legal action should be taken immediately.

Thousands of Afghans have applied for Pakistani visas in the last few months after realising they are not going to be allowed to stay in Pakistan without any valid documents anymore.A large number of them have got the visas for themselves while their families have returned home after staying here for over four decades. Most of those who applied for the visas are vendors and shopkeepers while few run restaurants and other businesses.