For nearly three months, border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained closed, creating difficulties for students, traders and other Pakistani nationals who have been stranded inside Afghanistan.
Agence France-Presse, citing a student representative, reported that in Nangarhar Province alone, about 500 to 600 Pakistani students are currently enrolled in universities and are seeking a way to return home.
Shah Faisal, a Pakistani student at an Afghan university who had hoped to travel back to Pakistan during academic holidays, said, “We miss our parents and relatives.”
Border crossings have been closed since the 20th of Mizan, leaving Faisal with no viable option to return home. Air travel is prohibitively expensive, and irregular routes carry serious risks.
Shah Fahd Amjad, a medical student in Jalalabad, called on both the Taliban authorities and the Pakistani government to allow Pakistani students to cross the border to visit their families.
As the closures persist, some have grown increasingly concerned about their visa status and financial situation. Barkatullah Wazir, a 23-year-old student in Jalalabad, told AFP that the situation has created difficulties for Afghan students in Pakistan as well as Pakistani students in Afghanistan.
Ehsanullah Himmat, a 21-year-old Pakistani trader who had traveled with his family to Kandahar to attend a relative’s ceremony, said he is now unable to return home. He added that fighting broke out after his arrival in Afghanistan, prompting the closure of border crossings.
Although his relatives have shown his family great hospitality, Mr. Himmat said he feels embarrassed about overstaying his welcome.
The border crossings were shut on the 12th of October, a day after the Taliban launched what they described as a retaliatory attack on Pakistan. The incident escalated into broader clashes between the two sides, which eventually subsided under a cease-fire on the 15th of October.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that nearly 1,200 Pakistani nationals had approached the country’s embassy in Kabul seeking assistance to return home. The ministry added that, as of Thursday, just over 300 people had been repatriated by air.
