Afghanistan: Visa limbo fuels migrant crisis at Torkham border crossing with Pakistan

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Afghan residents were seen lining up at the Torkham border on Wednesday, as the border with Pakistan remained closed.
Crowds of people queued up behind a wire fence, waiting to cross into the neighbouring country, as armed Taliban members patrolled the frontier wearing uniforms of the former Afghan National Police.
Many Afghans have been reportedly denied entry despite having a valid visa or ‘pass’ for Pakistan. Some however have been granted entry on the basis of holding a third-country visa, especially one guaranteeing holder would eventually depart Pakistan soil for the USA.
One Afghan resident reported that ‘patients and injured people who are dying’ were not being allowed to cross, despite having visas.
Pedestrian traffic at the crossing has been tightly restricted by Pakistan since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, with the Pakistani government citing security and pandemic concerns.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed visited the crossing where he denied reports of a refugee crisis saying there was ‘no refugee camp,’ and that people could come and go ‘in a normal way.’​
According to UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, there are currently 1.4 million Afghan refugees registered in Pakistan, with many more suspected to be undocumented.

SOT, Amit Khan, Afghan citizen (Pashto): “Here is the problem, we have been coming here for several days. We have visas and border passes. We’ve got the news that the border is open. But we are in a rush. They are not letting anyone in. There are also gate passes and visas. That is the problem, the border should be opened, on Afghan card or on visas. It is very difficult. Someone has a patient. Someone is with their wife and children.”

SOT, Khan Muhammad, Afghani citizen (Pashto): *TRANSLATIONS TO FOLLOW*

SOT, Afghan citizen (Pashto): “There are a lot of problems here. There are people waiting. They are bringing patients with them who are in serious condition. No problems are being solved. On the other hand, people working with Americans on the border are allowing them to go to Pakistan. There are patients and injured people who are dying, even they are not allowed to cross the border. These poor people spend all their money here and go back. The people of Afghanistan have visas and passports and they [Pakistan] are not letting them in.”
#Pakistan #Torkham #Afghanistan
Video ID: 20210915-013

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