KHYBER: Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi said on Saturday that additional facilities would be provided at the Hamza Bara transit point in Landi Kotal in order to ensure speedy and honourable return of the undocumented Afghan nationals to their home country.

During a visit to the centre, the chief minister had a detailed review of the facilities and arrangements made at the transit point and issued on the spot directives to expedite the process of verification and registration of returning Afghan nationals.

Accompanied by commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud, MNA Iqbal Afridi, MPA Adnan Qadri and officials of the district administration, he said that the provincial government had in collaboration with all the departments concerned had provided the best possible facilities at the transit point.

Listening to complaints from some of the returning Afghans, he said that the transit point was under severe stress due to the rising number of returning Afghans while the provincial government was doing its best to provide maximum relief and facilities to the Afghan people.

Youth welfare organisation provides free health services to returning Afghans

He directed the authorities concerned to increase the existing registration points from 20 to 40 in order to ease the rush on these points and ensure speedy verification process.

He reiterated the provincial government was determined to ensure the honourable and dignified return of Afghans who had lived in the province for over four decades.

Meanwhile, local sources complained about inadequate health facilities at the transit centre and insisted that the existing facilities were not in commensurate with the rising numbers of ailing Afghans who were approaching health staff for treatment and medication.

Sources said that though the Pakistan Red Crescent Society has established a health centre at the transit point but it was facing acute shortage of necessary medicines while the nonlocal staff too was not regularly attending to their duties.

They said that a majority of the returning Afghans, monster children and women were in dire need of emergent health care as most of them were suffering from multiple diseases like diarrhoea, high fever, skin allergies, pneumonia, chest infection, soar-throat, vomiting and depression.

They said that some of the pregnant women were to be referred to the district headquarters hospital Landi Kotal as there was no Labour room facility at the transit point.

It was also learnt that a local youth welfare organisation has established a free medical camp outside the transit point where five to six hundred Afghans were provided free health service on daily basis.

Local sources complained that the Khyber district health officer was yet to provide any assistance to the returning Afghans and they demanded of the non-governmental organisations to establish more free camps for the needy Afghans.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2026