Quarantined pilgrims highlight ‘inhumane’ experience at Taftan border

Over 290 travellers arrive in Sukkur after a day-long journey from Iran border

KARACHI: For the quarantined pilgrims who arrived in Sukkur from Taftan, their experience at the border was nothing less than inhumane, with little in the way of facilities or serious measures taken by the authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus among the travellers themselves.

Over 290 passengers reached Sukkur on Saturday morning after a journey that lasted for more than a day. Back in their home province, they will remain in isolation centres while they are tested for the infectious disease. More travellers are expected to join them soon.

“It was like being in prison,” complained Azadar Hussain*, who had been quarantined in Pakistan House, Taftan, along with 47 companions since February 29.

“We were supposed to be provided food thrice a day, but it was only given to us twice a day – and with the lack of adequate arrangements, half of us did not even receive that.”

Over 2,100 people trying to re-enter the country from Iran had been quarantined at Pakistan House. “We were all living together. It did not feel like we were in our own country,” stated Hussain.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the disgruntled traveller said that few of those in quarantine were actually tested for the virus. “No one was allowed to leave, but we were sitting together in common areas, living like prisoners in jail.”



Their journey from Taftan to Sindh, too, was arduous, with passengers complaining that they were not provided any meals or water while on the bus. “Even women and children were not allowed to go to the toilet,” said Hussain.

A caravan of 65 buses full of passengers left Taftan. Near Quetta, they separated, with some heading to each province. At the Sindh-Balochistan border, Hussain and the other passengers were handed over to the Sindh police.

“It looks like the matter is more serious here in Sindh,” he observed, adding that they had been separated from each other with no more than one person in a room.

“In Taftan, we were interacting with all the officials posted there. But here, the situation is the opposite. Nobody greets us; they just tell us to keep a distance.”Lax arrangements

Kifayat Ali*, from another area of Sindh, has been quarantined too, in a separate part of the Sukkur apartments that have been turned into a quarantine facility. “The majority of people here are short of money now,” he worried. “We were not expecting this sort of treatment towards us in Pakistan.”

Complaining about the lax arrangements at Taftan, he said that they had not been checked properly. “The people who got fever were only separated from the rest of us for 24 hours,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, Ronak Hasan*, who reached Taftan on March 6 with 29 others from Bhit Shah, is still at the border town. “No one knows when it will be our turn,” he said, adding that the officials near his camp had informed him that they would have to spend 14 days in quarantine in Sindh too.

Ronak too complained that those who had been quarantined had not been provided adequate food or medical facilities by the Balochistan government. “There is not even proper shelter for us,” he asserted, adding that there were no good policies on taking care of women and children in quarantine either. “The government is still in deep slumber,” he maintained.

His brother, Abbas*, told The Express Tribune that his family was anxious about Ronak’s safe return. “I am in contact with him and the situation in Taftan is pathetic. Why have people been quarantined if the government cannot even feed them?” he asked, demanding that the Sindh government arrange to bring its citizens back immediately.

According to Ronak, those who had been in Iran when the coronavirus outbreak there worsened had not been contacted by the government at all before they returned. He stated that many of the pilgrims had been tested in the neighbouring country as well. However, the tests were not recognised by the Pakistani authorities.‘Suffering immensely’

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said that the unsatisfactory arrangements at the Taftan border had caused immense suffering for the travellers coming from Iran.
As a result, he claimed, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had decided to write to the federal government, requesting it to let the people of Sindh return to the province, where arrangements had been made for screening, quarantine and isolation at several places.

At the daily coronavirus taskforce meeting on Saturday, the CM had instructed the Sukkur commissioner to collect samples for all 293 pilgrims who had arrived, and send them to Karachi for testing via helicopter.

The samples will be tested at Aga Khan University Hospital, Indus Hospital and Dow University Hospital’s Ojha campus.

He also told the commissioner to gather details of the passengers, as well as to install television sets in their rooms. “They must have the feeling that we are looking after them properly,” he insisted.

He further said that another batch of 648 travellers were ready to leave Taftan for Sukkur, directing the commissioner to make arrangements for their accommodation.