ISLAMABAD: Local police and administration said on Monday that around 50 arrested Afghan children, who had illegally crossed into Pakistan Sunday night, were sent back to Afghanistan.
Landi Kotal police station SHO Adnan Afridi flanked by local tribal elders and traders told the media on Monday.
Police revealed that over 700 Afghan children (boys and girls) cut the fence and illegally crossed over the border into Pakistan during the last few days.
Most of them were involved in narcotics and smuggling of other items as well as in other anti-social activities, he said, adding the children were warned repeatedly but to no avail.
Afghan border security officials have been informed time and again to stop illegal penetration but concerns by Pakistani authorities were not entertained, said the local police officer. He maintained that a number of Afghan children had lost their lives in traffic mishaps while crossing the border. Sometimes they cross the border while hiding beneath the returned trucks and trailers from Afghanistan.
They could have been dealt with under the relevant Act; however, with interference of the Jirga as a good gesture they were deported to Afghanistan via Torkham border, reopened late last week, the SHO remarked. Tehsil Chairman Haji Shah Khalid said it was immoral and unlawful to involve children in smuggling at the border.
He urged their parents to enroll their children in schools instead of utilising them as a source of income.
The Jirga members thanked the police and the Frontier Corp (North)for honouring them to release the detained 50 children who were later on deported and handed over to Afghan border authorities.
It is to worth mentioning here that the local Jirga helped resolve the border tension between Pakistan-Afghanistan security forces over the construction of a post that caused suspension of the border for over 27 days.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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