Pak court orders repatriation of smuggled Afghan children

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has ordered the repatriation of 10 Afghan children who were smuggled into Pakistan.

The court instructed police to give the children’s custody to the Afghan consulate and ensure they were reunited with their parents.

PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth heard the case involving the children. Police said they were smuggled into Pakistan and enrolled in in the Akora Khattak seminary.

An Afghan refugee, who filed an application with the court, said he had brought the children, his relatives, to the Akora Khattak refugee camp.

The applicant claimed the children had been taken away by the seminary and the administration had refused to allow him to meet the minors.

The applicant failed to explain how he brought the children to Pakistan. As a result, the top judge ordered police to arrest him and probe the matter.

As the children could not speak Pashto or Urdu, a translator was brought into the courtroom. He told the court the children seemed to have been brainwashed. “They answer each question together."

"Children were brought here from Afghanistan and no one knows about this. What are the agencies doing?" Justice Seth asked.

The chief justice ordered the arrest of the seminary’s representatives and a probe into the matter.

A representative of the Afghan consulate, Abdul Hameed Jalili, told DawnNew TV that the children belonged to Badakhshan province.

The children had been sent illegally by the Taliban to Pakistan for admission to the Akora Khattak seminary, the official claimed.