Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas near border off-limits to foreigners

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has advised foreign missions and non-governmental organisations to obtain permission from the ministry of foreign affairs for the visit of their employees to the province to avoid unpleasant incidents. According to the instructions issued by home and tribal affairs department on Sunday, the areas of the province close to border have also been declared out-of-bound for the staff of foreign missions, including ambassadors, and employees of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). “Visits to areas close to the international border shall not be allowed, interaction/interview with political and religious personalities as well as common people of the area, too, are not allowed,” according to the ‘standard operating procedure’ (SOP) of the home department, underlying criteria for the foreigners’ visit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The department, according to an official press release, has also instructed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Provincial Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA) to comply with the fresh SOP. “Our job is to facilitate the home department’s instructions, requiring foreigners to get No Objection Certificate (NOC) before visiting parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where PDMA and PaRRSA are conducting a host of development projects with the help of foreign donors,” PDMA spokesman Adnan Khan, when contacted, told Dawn. The employees of foreign missions as well as local and foreign staff of Pakistani and INGOs have been required to seek permission before visiting Malakand division, district Tank in Dera Ismail Khan division and district Hangu in Kohat division. “Instructions have been issued to PDMA and PaRRSA that all foreigners including ambassadors, diplomats, officials of embassies, foreign consulates, consulates general in Pakistan and even Pakistani staff members working for INGOs and NGOs are advised to route their requests in black and white through the ministry of foreign affairs,” according to the home department’s SOP. PDMA and PaRRSA have been required to coordinate with the foreign staff visiting any of the seven districts of Malakand division, including Swat, Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Shangla, Buner, Malakand and Chitral. “Once they are allowed to enter the aforementioned specific areas, the foreigners must ensure that they are not in possession of any illicit weapons, explosive material or any objectionable material, e.g. maps, books, pamphlets, periodicals, posters, etc,” underlines the SOP. It adds that the visitors would not be allowed to preach about any religion, and visits to the restricted areas and installations will not be allowed. The department has also prohibited photography of sensitive and restricted areas. Similarly, NOCs or permission from the ministry of information and broadcasting will be required for documentary filmmaking on any topic in any of the above mentioned districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The department has advised the foreign missions, federal ministries, provincial government departments and international and local NGOs to ensure fulfillment of pre-requisite requirements. They have been asked to provide information, including name and designation of the visiting persons, their passport numbers and nationality details, CNIC numbers in case of Pakistanis, purpose of their visit, detailed schedule of their visits, specific area they would want to visit, plans, cites to be visited, places where they would stay at night, exact timings of their arrival and exit from the visiting areas, mode of conveyance and the registration number, colour and types of their vehicles and names of their drivers with their CNIC numbers. The foreign missions would also be required to clearly mention the diplomatic status of the foreigners planning to visit. “These written requests should reach preferably by postal service or by fax to the home and tribal affairs department during office hours a fortnight in advance to enable the department to process it for security clearance and to make proper foolproof security cover/escort/protocol arrangements for the visiting dignitaries,” according to the press release. However, it bars carrying of illicit arms and weapons by the visitors. According the PDMA spokesman, his organisation received the home and tribal affairs department’s instructions a few days ago and the officials concerned have been asked to coordinate visits by foreigners and representatives of INGOs to Malakand and southern parts of the province. “NOCs for their (foreigners and INGOs’ representatives) travels to Malakand or any other part falls under the jurisdiction of the home and tribal affairs department, whereas, NGOs and foreign organisations are required to seek NOC from district coordination officer concerned for carrying out development projects in any of the flood-affected and militancy-hit areas in the province,” said Mr Khan. The home and tribal affairs department has advised the foreign missions and INGOs that non-fulfillment of its requirements would render it unable to facilitate their visits to any of the seven northern and three southern districts of the province.