Pakistani Officials "Forcing IDs on Afghans"

Although Saber is an Afghan national from the eastern Kunar province, he now holds identity papers issued in Pakistan. 

He says he had no option but to apply for the document as he has worked as a labourer in Mardan on the other side of the border for the last eight years. He still holds an Afghan ID card, and made out the Pakistani one under a false name.

According to Saber, Pakistani officials are quick to issue ID to anyone the moment they mention they hold Afghan citizenship. Most of his relatives have acquired Pakistani papers as well, allowing them to cross the border unhindered.

Fazil Khaleq, the official in charge of issuing identity documents on the Afghan side, denies that Pakistani IDs are being distributed to people inside Afghanistan, insisting that only residents of Pakistan can acquire them.

But both officials and local residents in Kunar say this is not the case.

Provincial governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi says he has heard that the documents are being issued to people in border areas, and he has asked the heads of district administrations to look into the matter.

Malek Sayed Ahmad Khan, a tribal leader from the Bar Kunar district, confirmed that Pakistani papers were being issued, adding his suspicion that this was a plot to boost the numbers of people who could be counted as de facto nationals of that country.

Nasrullah Safi, a member of Kunar’s provincial council, believes that the government in Islamabad wants to extend its control as far as the river Kunar.

He claims that local leaders have received threats intended to force them to obtain Pakistani documents for relatives, and that officials from across the border have asked locals to fly the Pakistani flag on their homes.

Omed Didar is an IWPR-trained radio reporter in Kunar province.