Source Online News
Afghan refugees residing in 20 various camps in southern districts of Khyber Pakhrunkhwa (KP) are in worse conditions due to blockade of their travel through Kohat Tunnel.
The refugees with Proof of Registration (PoR) card are compelled to stay at their makeshifts or travel through a very long route passing near Attock to Peshawar and they are facing various business and social problems, Afghan refugees in the area complained via telephone.
Their movement via Kohat Tunnel was banned in Muharram and it is still persisting that put them in awkward conditions as it is very difficult to reach a funeral to its destination besides other problems.
The Afghan Ambassador, Omer Daudzai had raised the issue with Governor Barrister Syed Masood Kausar about two weeks ago and he had promised to resolve it.
�Yes we had taken up the issue with the governor to facilitate millions of the refugees as they are facing problems in their routine life due to ban on their movement via Kohat Tunnel and he had promised to raise the issue in the official meeting,� Zardasht Shams, Press Attach� of Afghan embassy, told Online Tuesday.
The agency tried to contact provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar but he did not respond.
When Commissioner Afghan Refugees in KP Arbab Arshad was contacted for his official version he said that the question should be asked from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. �Afghan refugees are not my subject, I have no concern with them� he said when he was informed for clearance that the question is not related to IDPs but rather to Afghan refugees.
Nevertheless, UNHCR head in Peshawar Office Ahmed Warsame told Online his Organization believes in freedom of movement of the refugees and has taken up the issue with the Secretary for SAFRON Habibullah Khan, who would respond in next few days.
�The secretary had promised to resolve the problem soon,� he said.
About 70 refugees� camps are located across the KP and 1.7 million Afghan refugees are still living in Pakistan.
The authorities concerned had imposed ban on the movement via Kohat Tunnel from the security point of view in Muharram-ul-Haram but now the situation is being reassessed and soon a decision would be taken in this connection, said official sources on condition of anonymity.
Several terrorists� attacks and bomb blasts against the check posts of the tunnel and inside the strategic tunnel of Kohat that connects Peshawar to Karachi, were carried out in the last three years.
Afghan refugees residing in 20 various camps in southern districts of Khyber Pakhrunkhwa (KP) are in worse conditions due to blockade of their travel through Kohat Tunnel.
The refugees with Proof of Registration (PoR) card are compelled to stay at their makeshifts or travel through a very long route passing near Attock to Peshawar and they are facing various business and social problems, Afghan refugees in the area complained via telephone.
Their movement via Kohat Tunnel was banned in Muharram and it is still persisting that put them in awkward conditions as it is very difficult to reach a funeral to its destination besides other problems.
The Afghan Ambassador, Omer Daudzai had raised the issue with Governor Barrister Syed Masood Kausar about two weeks ago and he had promised to resolve it.
�Yes we had taken up the issue with the governor to facilitate millions of the refugees as they are facing problems in their routine life due to ban on their movement via Kohat Tunnel and he had promised to raise the issue in the official meeting,� Zardasht Shams, Press Attach� of Afghan embassy, told Online Tuesday.
The agency tried to contact provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar but he did not respond.
When Commissioner Afghan Refugees in KP Arbab Arshad was contacted for his official version he said that the question should be asked from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. �Afghan refugees are not my subject, I have no concern with them� he said when he was informed for clearance that the question is not related to IDPs but rather to Afghan refugees.
Nevertheless, UNHCR head in Peshawar Office Ahmed Warsame told Online his Organization believes in freedom of movement of the refugees and has taken up the issue with the Secretary for SAFRON Habibullah Khan, who would respond in next few days.
�The secretary had promised to resolve the problem soon,� he said.
About 70 refugees� camps are located across the KP and 1.7 million Afghan refugees are still living in Pakistan.
The authorities concerned had imposed ban on the movement via Kohat Tunnel from the security point of view in Muharram-ul-Haram but now the situation is being reassessed and soon a decision would be taken in this connection, said official sources on condition of anonymity.
Several terrorists� attacks and bomb blasts against the check posts of the tunnel and inside the strategic tunnel of Kohat that connects Peshawar to Karachi, were carried out in the last three years.
