Pakistani and Afghan officials said on Saturday that the Torkham border crossing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been reopened for returning Afghan refugees.
talking to SunriseKhyber Deputy Commissioner Bilal Rao confirmed that the Torkham border crossing had been reopened today to resume the repatriation of Afghan refugees.
Khizer Shah, spokesperson for the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, and Afghan officials also confirmed the fact.
“The door of Torkham is now open for refugees. We welcome our compatriots,” said Qureshi Badloon, head of Information and Culture in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Sunrise.
The repatriation of Afghan families with or without travel or identity documents was abruptly suspended on October 11 following border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which continued for days before a ceasefire was formalized in Doha on October 19.
Pakistan had closed all its borders with Afghanistan to all types of movement. Since then, large numbers of returning families have been eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Torkham border.
Trade between the countries has remained suspended since then, causing prices for essential products, especially tomatoes, to rise.
Although Islamabad and Kabul decided on Friday to extend the ceasefire, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said “the border remains closed to trade for now” and the resumption of trade would depend on the security situation.
Officials previously said all relevant staff members had been informed to ensure their presence at the service on Saturday morning. It was unclear whether Pakistanis stranded in Afghanistan would be allowed to return.
‘Thousands of refugees stranded’
Meanwhile, Afghan Consul General Hafiz Mohibullah Shakir said Sunrise on Friday that thousands of Afghan refugees were left stranded and living on the road due to the closure of the Torkham border crossing.
“There are hundreds of vehicles carrying thousands of refugees, stranded on the roads from Nowshera to Torkham,” he said, adding that many had no access to food, water or shelter.
He said refugees continued to be expelled, especially from Punjab, leading to an increase in the number of people stranded on the roads. He had called for water, tents and food to be provided for stranded refugees.
Shakir said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had also failed to help stranded refugees, most of whom he said were registered and had Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.
Following recent border tensions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that the government would not grant any further extensions to Afghan refugees and that all refugee camps would be closed.
He was informed that as of October 16, a total of 1,477,592 Afghan nationals had been repatriated.
The government also warned that harboring illegal Afghan residents would be treated as a serious crime and offenders would face severe punishments.
