Afghans fleeing Pakistan lack water, food, and shelter once they cross border
ISLAMABAD — Afghans fleeing Pakistan to avoid arrest and deportation are sleeping in the open, without proper shelter, food, drinking water, and toilets once they cross the border to their homeland, aid agencies said Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have left Pakistan in recent weeks as authorities pursue foreigners they say are in the country illegally, going door-to-door to check migrants’ documentation. Pakistan set Oct. 31 as a deadline to leave the country or else they’d be arrested as part of a new anti-migrant crackdown.
Afghans leave Pakistan from two main border crossings, Torkham and Chaman. The Taliban have set up camps on the other side for people to stay in while they wait to be moved to their place of origin in Afghanistan.
Aid agencies said Torkham has no proper shelter. There is limited access to drinking water, no heating source other than open fires, no lighting, and no toilets. There is open defecation and poor hygiene. UN agencies and aid groups are setting up facilities with thousands of people entering Afghanistan every day.
Thamindri Da Silva, from the relief and development organization World Vision International, said most people are moved to a dry riverbed once they have gone through their initial registration and processing at a transit center.
People enter Afghanistan with just the clothes on their back because their watches, jewelery, and cash were taken at the Pakistani border, she added.
Arshad Malik, country director for Save the Children, said many of those returning are coming back without education documents, making it difficult for them to continue their learning.