Arab News reported that the official letter obtained by the news agency indicates an exchange between a former regional commissioner at Taftan, Ayaz Mandokhel, and the additional chief secretary of the government of Balochistan. In the document, Mandokhel said that on February 27, Mirza had ordered an ease in quarantine restrictions at the border “for no sound reason.”
The letter raises serious concerns about the mistakes made by the federal government in the fight to contain coronavirus.
After that, more than 6000 people have entered Balochistan because the restrictions were eased. In March, the federal government reported that 78 percent of all coronavirus cases in the country had travel histories to Iran, one of the countries worst affected worldwide by the virus.
The government has since then been criticized for mishandling the Taftan border quarantine, and in a media briefing on March 27, PM Imran said the Balochistan government did not have enough funds to provide adequate facilities for travelers arriving from Iran.
But the letter, verified by Balochistan’s focal person for COVID-19, Umair Hasni, carries wide-ranging implications for the central government, and outlines Mandokhel’s concerns regarding Dr. Mirza’s directives.
“Only Zaireen and students are quarantined but hundreds of deportees, businessmen, tourists, Rahdari holders and local people are allowed to go for no sound reason,” the letter reads.
“No standard procedures have been either given or followed... We are congregating hundreds of people in Pakistan house and other tent camps. It is virtually detention and not quarantining,” he continues.
The letter goes on to say: “The quarantine period has been reduced from fourteen to seven days for no obvious reasons.”
It was also made apparent that the screening and quarantine measures were only being implemented at Taftan while hundreds of kilometers with Afghanistan and Iran remained unguarded.