By: Aman Ali Shinwari
KHYBER: The Khyber district tribal Jirga on Sunday deported fifty Afghan children in a goodwill gesture who were arrested by the Pakistani police and were involved in smuggling across the Torkham border.
The Fifty children involved in illegal smuggling at the Pak-Afghan Torkham border were deported to Afghanistan by a tribal jirga. The children illegally entered Pakistan over the fence, numbering more than seven hundred per day.
The children were arrested and shifted to Landi Kotal police station for legal action, however, after meeting with the police officials, the tribal jirga allowed them to go to Afghanistan through the Torkham border for the sake of the month of Ramazan and as a gesture of goodwill.
The jirga members thanked the police and Frontier Corps North for honouring the jirga and releasing the young children on humanitarian grounds.
SHO Adnan Afridi of Landi Kotal Police Station, while talking to the media along with the tribal jirga and the arrested children and girls, said that the illegal movement of Afghan children and girls has become a regular occurrence on the Pak-Afghan Torkham border. They are unknowingly involved in smuggling drugs and destructive materials have illegally crossed the fence and torn it down in places and are trying to enter Pakistan secretly.
He said that legal action would be taken under the 14 Foreigners Act, but they were deported under the intervention of the jirga and goodwill.
He said that all these children were Afghans and had been warned many times, but the Afghan government was reluctant to take action against them, due to which these children often fall victim to various accidents even when hit by vehicles.
On this occasion, Tehsil Chairman Shah Khalid Shinwari said that using these children, who were of school age, illegally on the border in this way was a moral crime as well as a legal crime.
While sending a message to the parents of the children, he said that these children of today would be adults tomorrow. The future of the children is bright, so let’s educate our children in school and save them from getting involved in this illegal business.
Jirga member Malik Tajuddin Shinwari said that we got these children released from the police through goodwill and tribal jirga, for which we were grateful to Frontier Corps North and the police, who always respected the tribal jirga and released the children without jail and allowed them to go to Afghanistan through Torkham.
On this occasion, Jirga members Mujeeb Shinwari, Zakir Shinwari, Haji Jaber Shinwari, and President of the Customs Clearing Agents Association were also present.
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