24 July 2017•Update: 25 July 2017
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
In a good will gesture, Pakistani authorities have started issuing special cards to Afghan students that will let them enter the country without passport or visa, an official said Monday.
Around 250 Afghan students have so far received Radio Frequency Identification Cards (RIFDs) and they have rejoined their schools in Pakistan over the past week, a senior paramilitary Frontier Corps’ official Col. Umar Hayat, told Anadolu Agency.
Pakistan had closed its border with Afghanistan after the Feb. 16 suicide bombing in the crowded Sufi Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalanadar in the southern Sindh Province of Pakistan.
After the attack, which had left at least 90 dead, Pakistan also restricted the travelling of Afghan nationals including students from entering the country without valid documents.
“Now Afghan students can easily cross the border on daily bases without any visa or passport to attend schools at border areas in Torkham," Col. Umar said.
He said the RFID would not only facilitate Afghan students to attend schools in Pakistan but it would also simplify their daily identification process at Tokham border.
More than 500 Afghan students are enrolled in Pakistan's border areas schools and colleges.
"The authorities have established special counters on the border crossing points for these Afghan students and they can easily enter in the morning and exit in the evening," the paramilitary force official added.
The Afghan parents and students welcomed the decision, terming it “a good gesture”.
"Today was my first day in school and I am very happy to come back and met with my class fellows after six months," Junaid Habib, a student of eighth grade in Pakistan International School Torkham, told Anadolu Agency on phone.
