High transport costs burden Afghan migrants returning from Pakistan

Afghans returning from Pakistan complain about high transport fares, saying that as a result they are forced to sell their household belongings at low prices or leave them behind.

Pacha Khan, a resident of Kunar who returned to the country after nearly four decades of displacement, says that due to high transport costs he was able to bring only a few household items with him.

Pacha Khan told : “Fares were very high. I left many of my household items and returned with only a small amount of belongings, along with my wife. One of my sons is disabled. I could not afford to pay the full fare.”

Sakhi Gul, another returnee from Pakistan, said: “We could not afford the transport cost to bring our belongings. There, we used to earn only five to six hundred rupees a day. The fare to reach my district, Kuz Kunar in Nangarhar, is 250,000 Pakistani rupees.”

Another returnee, Lal Mohammad, said: “There is severe mistreatment on the Pakistani side. They demand money, and if you don’t pay, they make excuses, claiming you are carrying illegal items and create problems for you.”

Drivers say the high fares are due to illegal payments demanded by Pakistani police, adding that they are forced to pass these costs on to Afghan migrants.

A driver at Torkham, Adam Khan, said: “In Landi Kotal, they took 500 rupees from me, 6,000 for the scanner, 3,500 at another point, 2,000 at customs, and 1,000 by Pakistani forces. We then charge these costs to the migrants.”

However, local officials say that, in addition to other assistance, transportation costs for newly returned migrants are being covered by the Islamic Emirate.

Quraishi Badlon, head of information at Nangarhar’s Department of Information and Culture, said: “There are Afghan drivers at Torkham, and migrants who are forcibly returned from Pakistan receive financial assistance here. Those being transported to their home areas are also given transport costs, all funded by the Islamic Emirate’s budget.”

This comes as, since the day before yesterday, 318 families, totaling 1,224 individuals, have returned to the country via the Torkham crossing alone.