The head of the passport department, Alem Gul Haqqani, said the department submitted at least 20,000 passports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to distribute outside the country for Afghan citizens.

According to the department, the passports will be issued to the Afghans outside the country whose passports have expired.

“We will attempt to send passports to migrants living abroad. We have sent about 20,000 passports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5,000 0f these will be sent to Saudi Arabia soon,” said Alem Gul Haqqani.

The extension of passport validity is always a fundamental problem for people living abroad, but Kabul residents, meanwhile, criticized the passport department for not addressing their needs. 

“People inside Afghanistan are in serious need of passports, they need to leave for education, people must take their relatives out for medical treatment--these people need passports more than other migrants outside,” said Zahra Mohammadi, a civil society activist.

“There are people who have to go for education, to receive treatment, so they require passports,” said Ahmad Faisal, a resident.

Passport distribution in Kabul was suspended about two weeks ago, even though offices are open in 17 other provinces.