Pakistan opens more border centres to expedite return of undocumented Afghans: official

Pakistan opened more border centres on Friday to expedite the return of tens of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals, an official said, ignoring calls by refugee groups to reconsider its mass expulsion plans.

Facilities at the northwestern border crossing of Torkham, where most immigrants are re-entering Afghanistan, have been increased three times to cater to the rising number of returnees, said Abdul Nasir Khan, deputy commissioner for the Khyber district.

“Everything is normal now as the returnees no longer needed to wait in queues for hours,” he said of the crossing, where thousands had thronged after a Wednesday deadline expired for Afghans in the country illegally to leave.

Those arriving in Afghanistan complained of the hardships they had to face to move out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future.

“We spent three days on the border in Pakistan. We had a very bad situation,” said Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in Chaman where he had a retail business.

“Thank God that we have arrived back in our country,” he said. It took him six days to leave his home in Pakistan with his 16 family membersnd belongings to reach a makeshift tent village on the other side of the border.

Rafi accused Pakistani officials of taking bribes to process his repatriation. Authorities deny that. He rented a house in Kandahar to live temporarily before moving to his ancestral home in Helmand province.

Sudden influx

Meanwhile, the caretaker government has brushed off calls from the United Nations, rights groups and Western embassies to reconsider its plan to expel more than 1 million of the 4 million Afghans in the country.

The Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan, scrambling to cope with the sudden influx, has set up temporary transit camps where food and medical assistance would be provided.

In a joint statement, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council and International Rescue Committee have reported chaotic and desperate scenes among those arriving.

Khan said 19,744 Afghans had crossed the border on Thursday, of 147,949 since the government announced the deadline. More than 35, undocumented Afghans have left through the Chaman border.

Authorities have said they were open to delaying repatriation for people with health or other issues that would bar them from travelling.

Islamabad has eased a biometric requirement for Afghan women and children to save them the hours-long process at the borders.