Five-month-old Afghan baby allowed entry into Pakistan on humanitarian grounds

A five-month-old Afghan baby suffering from a heart condition has been allowed to enter Pakistan for treatment without documents on humanitarian grounds, after authorities granted the child and the family special permission to cross the Torkham border. The baby was shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) in Peshawar, where the child has been admitted and is receiving treatment. According to Khyber district social worker Islam Badshah Afridi, the baby and the parents were allowed to enter Pakistan through the Torkham gate with special permission from the relevant authorities on humanitarian and goodwill grounds. Afridi welcomed the move, saying this was the second child to be allowed entry into Pakistan through the Torkham gate without documents on special humanitarian grounds so that timely medical treatment could be provided. Since February, the Torkham border — a key trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan — has been closed due to tensions and intermittent clashes between Pakistani security forces and operatives of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The federal government had introduced a new system to replace the British-era arrangement that allowed people from Afghanistan and Pakistan to travel without visas, in another move aimed at regulating the movement of people and goods amid tensions between the two neighbours following the introduction of a deportation drive in November 2023. Earlier, Afghans could travel to Pakistan without visas at certain border crossings using “Tazkirah”, a special permit that had been used for decades under the British-era easement rights. The arrangement was originally aimed at facilitating divided families and tribes living on both sides of the border after Britain demarcated the border known as the Durand Line. The government implemented a “single-document regime” at all international border crossings with Afghanistan. The earlier facility, however, was allegedly misused as people often travelled beyond the areas permitted under those easement rights.