BAMYAN (SW) – The closure of passport office in Bamyan province has caused problems for the local population.
A number of Bamyan residents told Salam Watandar that for about 20 days now, the provincial passport office has been closed to applicants and clients and has been inactive.
According to them, at least 40 to 50 people a day, most of whom are patients and students with scholarships, go to the Bamyan Passport Office to process and obtain a passport, but the office is closed to them.
Mohammad (a pseudonym), a client of the Bamyan Passport Authority, said that his passport had been returned from the General Directorate of Passports due to some errors, but now he has no ways to have it fixed.
According to Mohammad, dozens of people apply to the Bamyan Passport Office every day, but due to the closure of the office for unknown reasons, they return home disappointed.
Shamsullah, a resident of Bamyan whose family member is ill and doctors say he must be transferred to a neighboring country for treatment, said he and his patient do not have passports. He added that he has applied to the Bamyan Passport Office several times to get a passport, but it has been closed.
Shamsullah expressed concern that his patient would die if the Bamyan Passport Office did not resume operations soon.
However, a security source, who did not want to be identified, told Salam Watandar that the Bamyan Passport Directorate was closed about 20 days ago after Mawlawi Atiq, the director of the office and a close associate of Bamyan Police Chief Sediqullah Shahin Mosafer, was charged with corruption. He was later arrested by the intelligence forces of the province.
We also wanted to include the views of Bamyan Police Command officials in the report, but the spokesman for the command declined to comment.
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