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Pakistani visas: VP says middlemen to be arrested

KABUL (Pajhwok): Vice-President, Amrullah Saleh has promised problems in getting Pakistani visas will be resolved in the near future.

Saleh, who is also in charge of Kabul’s security, held out the promise at a meeting on problems in receiving Pakistani visas.

In a Facebook post, he said they discussed the problems being faced by visa applicants at the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.

“Middlemen who mistreat people and create disorder for their own interests would be identified and referred soon to judicial organs,” he said.

Many people in Kabul and Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, have been complaining of being fleeced by visa agents over the years.

 A few days back, 12 women were killed and 13 others, including 10 women, injured in a stampede while applying for Pakistani visas in Jalalabad.

Visa applicants have also staged protests in front of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul in the past two weeks. They claim only those applicants who pay commissions to middlemen are granted visas. Ordinary people have to wait for getting visas.

Based on a new policy, Pakistan offers one year and six months visas to common people and patients in addition to long-term visas for students, Businesspeople are now given five-year visas.

mds/mud

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