KHYBER(National Times)- Extensive and repeated checking of vehicles carrying belongings of the returning Afghans at Torkham border have considerably slowed down the process of repatriation.
Sources at the Torkham border told Dawn that customs authorities had started a complete examination of all goods carried along by the Afghan families prior to the issuance of gate passes to them for crossing the border.
They said that the manual examination of every vehicle was carried out despite electronic scanning at the customs terminal. An extensive security check was conducted by border forces after the vehicle was released by the customs authorities, drastically reducing the number of returning Afghans as they’re made to wait for long hours before the issuance of gate passes.
Local custom clearing agents argued that manual examination of the personal belongings was “an exercise in futility” once the electronic examination of any vehicle was conducted as all the goods placed in the vehicle figure prominently in the scanning result.
They said that every vehicle was charged Rs8,500 for electronic scanning while they had to arrange for labourers for physical examination of their vehicle under the watchful eyes of custom officials, which was an additional financial burden on both the transporters and custom clearing agents coupled with mental agony for the returning families.
However, custom officials insisted that they were under strict instructions from the Federal Board of Revenue in Islamabad to extensively check every vehicle carrying Afghan families back to Afghanistan as there were allegations of some trade goods smuggled to Afghanistan in the guise of personal belongings.
They insisted that they were now strictly complying to the orders of their higher authorities as customs staff too was accused of their alleged involvement in illegal export of certain trade goods hidden in vehicles of the returning families.
Local custom clearing agents and transporters said that the examination process was painfully slow as only 10-15 vehicles were issued gate passes on a daily basis compared to the number coming to over 200 just a week ago.
They suggested that staff members of all relevant government departments along with border security sleuths be posted to the scanning machine at the time of electronic scanning of every vehicle to expedite goods examination and clearance of returning vehicles.
The clearing agents said that returning Afghans were facing hardships when they were made to wait in unbearable hot and humid weather while their personal belongings were examined by authorities.
