Afghan family stopped from flying to Malaysia due to incomplete documents

Immigration authorities at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Thursday stopped the family

RAWALPINDI: Immigration authorities at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) on Thursday stopped an Afghan family from travelling to Malaysia since they had incomplete documents.

Mahram Ali Ataai and six other family members were hoping to travel to Malaysia on visit visas. However, after officials discovered that his family had not listed any accommodation arrangements including confirmed hotel reservations or any other arrangements in Malaysia, they were barred from boarding the plane.



In a second incident, the immigration staff of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) stopped a woman from travelling to the United States since her travel documents were not complete. Noveen Shahab, a government servant, was about to board a US-bound flight but was stopped by the staff after she could not produce any proof of departmental permission.

Despite facing a multitude of challenges, Pakistan continues to host 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees — world’s second largest and most protracted refugee population globally, after Turkey.

Pakistan has been hosting them despite the current strains in ties with the Afghan government. The presence of over 1.4 million registered refugees has not only destroyed the social and economic fabric of Pakistan but has also become a security challenge, of late.



Authorities here believe that militant groups have used Afghan refugee camps to carry out some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country. Pakistan wants early repatriation of Afghan refugees, who are reluctant to go back to their homeland due to the continued violence and instability there.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2017.