PESHAWAR: Caught between a rock and a hard place, Muallim Khan, a resident of the Dakka area in Afghanistan, says that he can neither visit a hospital in the capital nor seek treatment in neighboring Pakistan.
This is because a notification issued by Peshawar earlier this week bars the entry of Afghan nationals into Pakistan during the first 10 days of Muharram. Around 3,000 Afghan nationals cross the border for reasons of employment and medical treatment every day – a number that will see a massive decline due to the new regulation.
At the receiving end are people like Khan, 55, who says that despite undergoing surgery in Peshawar, he has been unable to return for a checkup that’s long overdue. “The worst part is that we cannot even go to Kabul because the Afghan authorities have banned the entry of people from suburban areas due to strict security during this month [of Muharram],” he said.
Speaking to Arab News, S P Kaukab Farooq, superintendent of police in Peshawar, said that due to the sensitive situation “they (Afghan nationals) are not allowed to enter the city until Ashura (the 10th of Muharram)”.
Besides Peshawar, the districts of Kohat, Tank and D. I. Khan have been marked most sensitive due to their substantial Shiite population who are often targeted by extremist elements for their religious beliefs.
While the rules were much more lax earlier, officials said the Peshawar terror attack in December 2014 --- which killed 132 children from the Army Public School and which the military blamed the Taliban for – led to the tightening of security measures in the area, with passports now a must for entry into Pakistan. “Even if there is a patient to be brought to a hospital, the authorities demand to see their passport first,” Shamsul Islam, a Revenue Officer of the Landikotal subdivision, said.
Islam added that the permits are no longer issued at the border and instead need to be procured from the main cities in Afghanistan.
Ruing the changes in law which limited him from acquiring a passport on time, Wali Gul, a resident of the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, said: “My 14-year-old daughter died from tuberculosis and liver dysfunction only because I was not granted permission to travel to a hospital in Peshawar. My family and I made repeated requests to the authorities at Torkham border to allow us to shift my daughter to a hospital in Peshawar but they demanded the patient’s passport first.”
Gul’s daughter died by the time he could make the necessary arrangements and finally cross the border. The aggrieved father urged authorities, on both sides of the border, to make temporary arrangements for patients with serious impediments so that they access medical attention on time.
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
- 10-day ban in place as part of security measures for Muharram
- Rights groups urge authorities to allow patients freedom of movement
Pakistan says UN liquidity crisis undermining peacekeeping, urges predictable financing
- Pakistan is one of world’s top troop-contributing countries and has deployed more than 250,000 peacekeepers to 48 UN missions
- If financial commitments wane, the readiness of troop contributing countries to maintain forces can also be affected, envoy warns
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has warned that a liquidity crisis at the United Nations (UN) is undermining the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions, warning of its “serious consequences” for mandate delivery, civilian protection and deterrence against violence.
Pakistan is one of the world’s top troop-contributing countries and has deployed more than 250,000 peacekeepers to 48 UN missions across four continents over the past eight decades. A total of 182 of its peacekeepers have also lost their lives while serving under the UN flag.
Speaking at the opening of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said several missions have transitioned or drawn down in recent years and no new UN peacekeeping mission has been established in over a decade, despite rising global instability and the highest levels of conflict since World War-II.
“If financial commitments wane and missions continue to contract without clear strategic direction, the readiness of troop contributing countries to maintain forces earmarked for UN deployment could also be affected, including standby arrangements, rapid deployment capabilities and specialized units,” Ahmad said, calling for a “serious and structured review” of financial architecture underpinning UN peacekeeping.
The liquidity crisis has reduced patrols, mobility and field presence, according to the Pakistani envoy. UN peacekeeping must become more agile, focused and better equipped to address evolving threats, including through technology and stronger partnerships.
“Protection of civilians, deterrence against violations, and ceasefire monitoring and verification remain foundational tasks,” he said. “Lack of political progress should not be used as a pretext for withdrawing missions.”
Pakistan has contributed both military and police personnel to UN operations, deploying more than 50 formed police units to missions including Haiti, Darfur, Timor-Leste and Côte d’Ivoire, according to Pakistan’s UN mission.
Pakistan’s top diplomat at the UN also flagged the issue at a UN Security Council briefing on peacekeeping police components this month.
