19 January 2018•Update: 19 January 2018
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Pakistan on Friday handed over the custody of an Afghan child, who had gone missing in 2015, to officials at Afghan embassy, a statement and official said.
“As a good-will gesture, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua handed over the custody of an Afghan child to Zardasht Shams, Afghan deputy ambassador in Islamabad,” Pakistani Foreign Office’s spokesman told Anadolu Agency.
According to a separate statement issued by the office, the child, Ubaid Ullah, 15, had come to the country in 2015 with his parents for medical treatment of his father. However, he went missing in the capital Islamabad.
The mother and other family members of the child left for Afghanistan due to sudden demise of Ubaid Ullah’s father, it said.
The child was found by Islamabad Police on November 7, 2015 and was referred to Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, which took the custody of the child.
"The authorities provided him a homelike environment along with, education, healthcare and psychological counseling during his stay in the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau in Islamabad," the statement added.
“Pakistani authorities as well as our Embassy in Kabul continued efforts for tracing his family in Afghanistan. Today, after successful conclusion of these efforts, Ubaid Ullah was handed over to the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad,” it said.
Obaid Ullah, will be traveling to Afghanistan on Friday evening to reunite with his family.
The Afghan diplomat thanked the government of Pakistan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their efforts to reunite the child with his family.
"The Government and people of Afghanistan have deeply appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for taking good care of the destitute Afghan child and his safe reunion with his family,” said Zardasht Shams, the deputy ambassador of Afghanistan to Islamabad.
