Winter and poor conditions slow Afghan repatriation at Torkham
Officials in Landi Kotal say 10 to 15 families now return each day, down from hundreds in August and September, Dawn reports.
Repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals through Khyber district has slowed sharply in recent weeks, with officials pointing to poor living conditions and the approach of a harsh winter in most parts of Afghanistan.
Sources in Landi Kotal and Torkham told Dawn that 10 to 15 families were going back to Afghanistan each day. Hundreds a day were recorded in August and September.
An official at the Hamza Baba registration centre said the return process had slowed over the past few weeks. About 100 individuals, mostly children, went back, the official said, against more than 1,000 a day until last week.
Dawn did not report how many people have crossed since the slowdown began, or how many undocumented Afghan nationals remain in the district. Its figures cover returns through Khyber district only.
Torkham is the main crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Landi Kotal sits on the road to it, and the two places are where the returning families were counted.
The officials quoted by Dawn gave conditions facing families inside Afghanistan and the coming winter as the reason for the fall in numbers. No figure was given for families who crossed back into Pakistan over the same period.
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