Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Pakistan installs visa verification system at Torkham border to reduce illegal immigration

Pakistan has installed an advanced visa verification system at the Torkham zero point to check and reduce the illegal entry of Afghan citizens into Pakistan.

Torkham border connects Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province. Approximately 3,000 to 5,000 people crossed the border daily.

Prevent illegal immigration

The newly installed system would facilitate the entry of Afghans with valid travel documents into Pakistan and curb human trafficking, local officials said.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Yasar Arafat told reporters that the new system would facilitate easy entry of Afghans with valid travel documents to Pakistan, while also discouraging and preventing human trafficking via the Torkham border.

The verification system was installed after Pakistani authorities learned that an organized group of human smugglers was involved in bringing in Afghans without legal travel documents through alternate routes. The officials said this was a huge security risk.

The installation of new visa verification system would enable the immigration staff to check and detect fake travel documents while also expediting the process of genuine travellers and minimizing the risk of entry of suspected persons with dubious travel documents, Arafat said.

Deportation deadline

The new measures come days before the deadline for illegal migrants to leave the country. The Pakistani government has set a deadline of October 31 for illegal Afghan residents to leave the country. Both Pakistani and Afghan officials have confirmed that tens of thousands of Afghans have chosen to voluntarily return home since Islamabad announced this deadline nearly a month ago.

Pakistan’s state media reported that 62,070 Afghan refugees have been successfully repatriated in recent weeks.

The Pakistani government has committed to carrying out these deportations in a phased and orderly manner.

Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti stated that an estimated 1.7 million Afghans are among those facing possible eviction. However, this effort does not target the approximately 1.4 million Afghan refugees legally residing in Pakistan or the around 900,000 individuals holding valid Afghan citizenship cards and formally registered in Pakistan as migrants.

Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders have called on Pakistan to reconsider the deportation plan calling it “inhumane”. Additionally, the United Nations has urged Islamabad to suspend its plan.

Salma Khan
Salma writes on topics ranging from education to technology to business. She can be reached at Twitter and Facebook.

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