KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan has once again closed the Torkham border to Afghan patients without passports and Pakistani visas, creating challenges for those seeking medical treatment in the country.
Sediqullah Quareshi, the Taliban head of Information and Culture Directorate in Nangarhar, told local media that Pakistani border authorities had stopped permitting patients without legal documents to enter Pakistan since yesterday evening.
The local Taliban authorities ask Afghan patients to refrain from visiting the special commission until further notice. The commission was previously assisting patients in entering Pakistan without legal documents.
The Torkham border crossing, located between Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan’s Nangarhar provinces, serves as one of the busiest routes for traders and people, especially patients.
In the past, Pakistani officials at the Torkham crossing permitted patients lacking passports and visas to enter the country, upon presenting an approval letter from the Taliban Ministry of Public Health.
This isn’t the first instance the country has closed this border to Afghan patients. Just a month ago, the country shut down the border to Afghan patients for several days.
This development comes at a time when thousands of Afghans, particularly cancer patients whose illnesses cannot be treated in Afghanistan, annually seek medical treatment in neighboring countries, especially Pakistan.
On the other hand, Afghan applicants face significant challenges in obtaining a Pakistan visa, including the medical visa. Currently, a three-month Pakistani visa can cost Afghan citizens between $700 to $1,000 on the black market.
Pakistan has recently strengthened border security along its approximately 2,600-kilometer frontier with Afghanistan, aiming to prevent terrorist infiltration. Under the new measures, all Afghans entering the country must have valid travel documents and Pakistani visas.
Islamabad is concerned about the presence of a militant group, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has close ties with the regime in Kabul and has carried out several deadly attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians in recent years.
The country accuses the Taliban of failing to uphold their commitment to the Doha agreement, which pledged to prevent any terrorist group from using Afghanistan to launch attacks on other countries. The Taliban has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The recent development exacerbates the increasing challenges faced by Afghans in Pakistan since the country initiated a crackdown on undocumented refugees last November. Reports indicate that over half a million Afghan refugees without valid documentation have been deported since the crackdown began.
Earlier last month, the Pakistan government announced that it will initiate the second phase of refugee expulsions in mid April. According to Pakistani media, in this phase the country will deport Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders which were issued in 2017 and 2018 to Afghan refugees granting them legal refugee status in the country.
