Document #1109301
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Tazkara (Taskera)
The Afghan identity document called the
tazkara (taskera) was discussed in detail most
recently in AFG40753.E of 4 December 2002. Please also consult
AFG29678.E of 14 July 1998, AFG28173.E of 27 November 1997 and
AFG27853.E of 21 November 1997 for information relating to
tazkara issued before 2001, which Afghan citizens may
currently use as identification. Additional information published
since December 2002 is limited; however, the Danish Immigration
Service (DIS) reported in March 2003 that since the end of the
Taliban period, the Afghan authorities have been issuing a new form
instead of the previously issued identity forms because they have
run out of the latter (Denmark Mar. 2003, 55). The Research
Directorate did not find a description of the new form or reports
indicating that the Interim Islamic Administration of Afghanistan
(IIAA) was intending to replace older tazkara with these
new forms among the sources consulted.
Citizens can obtain a tazkara from the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, provincial governors in the provinces, a "'District Commissioner'" in the Afghan districts or at embassies abroad by showing a birth certificate or having another person certify their identity (ibid., 54).
Passports
According to the first secretary at the
Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghan authorities issue six
types of passports, including diplomatic, service, trade, student,
Hajj passports (only valid in connection with a pilgrimage) and
ordinary nationality passports (Denmark 10 Sept. 2002). The IIAA
recently invalidated Afghan passports issued by Taliban authorities
between September 1996 and October 2001, but upheld the validity of
those issued by the Northern Alliance during this period and those
issued before and after the Taliban rule (US 3 Apr. 2003). The DIS
noted, however, that, "if the Taliban passport was provided with a
valid visa to another country, such a passport will not be replaced
with a new one ... until the expiry of the visa in question" (10
Sept. 2002).
In their September 2002 fact-finding mission report, DIS noted the following with regard to the issuance of passports:
Diplomatic passports and service passports are only issued in Kabul by the Foreign Ministry, while trade passports, student passports and Hajj passports can be issued by local authorities in Afghanistan. Ordinary nationality passports can also be issued at Afghan representations outside Afghanistan.
Every Afghan citizen will be able to apply to the passport issuing authorities [for] an Afghan nationality passport.
When applying for an Afghan nationality passport, the applicant should ... visit the passport issuing authorities in person to fill in an application form. Identity documents should be presented in this connection, for example an Afghan ID card (tazkara) or a previous passport. The first secretary [of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan] stated that the majority of the Afghan population possess ID documents.... If a person does not possess ID documents, [he or she] can bring witnesses who will be able to confirm the applicant's Afghan identity. A passport applicant should also document good knowledge of Afghan affairs, including geographical conditions. The applicant is interviewed in this connection when submitting the passport application.
The first secretary told the delegation that in some cases a refugee card issued by the Pakistan authorities could be accepted as documentation of a passport applicant's Afghan identity.
In connection with the issuing of an Afghan nationality passport at the representations in Pakistan, a fee of USD 104 is charged, while it costs USD 100 to renew a passport. The money should be paid to an account in a Pakistani bank before the passport can be issued. A passport can be issued in 3-4 days from the time of application. At the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, 15-20 passports are issued per day to Afghan citizens.
The director for DACAAR stated that passports are issued in Kabul over a 5-day period from the time of application and the price for a passport in Kabul is less than 2,000 Pakistani rupees (approx USD 30-35). The first secretary stated that the issuing procedures are the same at the embassy in Islamabad and at the consulates in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta (DIS 10 Sept. 2002).
In their December fact finding mission report to Afghanistan, the DIS added that an applicant may have his or her name compared against a criminal records register, but the report did not mention what would occur should the applicant be found with a criminal background (ibid. Mar. 2003, 54). In an effort to prevent young men from fleeing abroad and avoiding their compulsory military service, in September 2002 the Afghan Ministry of Defence ordered the Interior Ministry's passport office to not issue passports to men between 22 and 28 years of age (IWPR 27 Sept. 2002).
Exit Visas
Afghans are required to have visas to pass
into Pakistan (Dawn 17 July 2003), Turkmenistan (IRIN 30
July 2003) and Iran (Tehran Times 23 July 2003). On 17
July 2003, Dawn reported that security along the
Afghan-Pakistan frontier had been stepped up because of the
infiltration of Afghans into Pakistan and "all permits issued to
people on both sides" of the border were cancelled. However, an
August 2003 report opined that parts of the Pakistani border were
essentially meaningless and not respected by locals, meaning that
neither Pakistani nor Afghan officials can stop the flow of people
and goods from crossing the border (Asia Times 26 Aug.
2003). Indeed, the article notes, attempts by the government to
restrict movement with a visa regime "became a laughing stock on
both sides of the border" (ibid.).
Voluntary Repatriation Forms
Since 2002, the UNHCR has been issuing
Voluntary Repatriation Forms (VRF) to refugees voluntarily
returning to Afghanistan from third countries (UNIC 4 Feb. 2002;
UNHCR 3 Apr. 2002; Islamic Republic of Iran et al. 3 Apr. 2002; see
also UN OCHA 25 Apr. 2002). A UNHCR description of these forms
indicates that the head of household would retain at least one copy
of the VRF form after repatriation (15 Mar. 2003). According to an
agreement signed between Iran, the IIAA and the UNHCR, VFRs that
are duly completed by the UNHCR are "valid identity documents and
travel documents for the purpose of return to final destinations in
Afghanistan" (Islamic Republic of Iran et al. 3 Apr. 2002).
Other Identity Documents
The US Department of State reported that
Afghan citizens may have birth certificates issued by some
hospitals and from local authorities, marriage certificates issued
by the courts as a white booklet the provides information on the
bride and groom and, in some cases divorce decrees issued by the
courts (US 3 Apr. 2003). However, according to the Deputy Minister
of Justice, more than half of all marriages are concluded without
the involvement of authorities, meaning that there would be no
marriage certificate (Denmark Mar. 2003, 56).
Reliability of Afghan Documents
According to the US Department of State (DOS) Visa Reciprocity and Country Documents Finder report on Afghanistan dated 3 April 2003, the availability and reliability of Afghan identity documents is "very uncertain" because of wartime conditions and a lack of a central authority. Moreover, during the 1990s, Afghan refugees who fled to Pakistan were generally not registered or issued with identity documents (AREU Dec. 2002).
The Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DCAAR) stated that there is widespread circulation of false documentation in Afghanistan, including university examination certificates and, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kabul, false Afghan passports (Denmark Mar. 2003, 54). In late 2001, a news report regarding the escape of Osama Bin Laden's elite soldiers from Afghanistan following US intervention detailed the availability of fraudulent Afghan identity and travel documents in Peshawar and other Afghan towns (Times of India 29 Oct. 2001). According to the report, travel visas were available for US$4,000 (ibid). Newsweek reporters purchased (in US dollars) a "complete set of fraudulent Afghan documents, including an Afghan passport for $275, a driver's licence for nine dollars, a Kabul ID card for $56 and a birth certificate for eight dollars, all in the name of a fictitious 'Mariana Ali'" (ibid.). They also purchased "[t]wo additional documents ... to support a plea for political asylum in the West: a membership card for the now-defunct Afghan Communist party and a letter from Taliban intelligence summoning 'Mariana Ali' for interrogation and demanding that she stop teaching girls English secretly" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
(AREU). December 2002. David Turton and Peter Marsden "Taking
Refugees for a Ride? The Politics of Refugee Return to Afghanistan"
http://www.areu.org.pk/publications/refugees.pdf
[Accessed 29 Sept. 2003]
Asia Times [Karachi]. 26 August
2003. Syed Saleem Shahzad. "The Face of Afghanistan's Resistance."
(Afgha.com) http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=36766&query=visa
[Accessed 1 Oct. 2003]
Dawn [Karachi]. 17 July 2003.
"Pakistani Authorities Arrest 48 Afghans for Illegal Border
Crossing." (BBC Monitoring/Dialog)
Denmark. March 2003. Danish Immigration
Service (DIS). The Political, Security and Human Rights
Situation in Afghanistan: Report of a Fact-Finding Mission to Kabul
and Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan and Islamabad, Pakistan 22
September-5 October 2002. http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewCountries/EA4EFBC6B5E02E3FC1256CF5002FB0E4/$file/afghanistan_eng_2002.pdf
[Accessed 29 Sept. 2003]
_____. 10 September 2002. Danish
Immigration Service. The Political, Security and Human Rights
Situation in Afghanistan: Report of a Fact-Finding Mission to
Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan and Kabul, Afghanistan 5-19 May
2002. http://www.udlst.dk/Publikationer/Publikationerne/fact_finding_afghanistan_UK2002.htm
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
Institute of War and Peace Research
(IWPR). 27 September 2002. Afghan Recovery Report. Danish
Karokhel. http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/s/2AD783FB1115D4C385256C4400659987
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
Islamic Republic of Iran, the Interim
Authority of Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees. 3 April 2002. "Joint Programme Between the Government
of Islamic Republic of Iran, the Interim Authority of Afghanistan
and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the
Voluntary Repatriation of Afghan Refugees and Displaced Persons."
(European Country of Origin Information Network) http://www.ecoi.net/pub/mv18_afg-unhcr-repatriation.pdf
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
Integrated Regional Information Network
News (IRIN). 30 July 2003. "Afghan Refugees Want Third-Country
Resettlement." (Afgha.com) http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=35775&query=visa
[Accessed 1 Oct. 2003]
Tehran Times. 23 July 2003.
"Over 140 Thousand Afghans Back Home from Iran." (Afgha.com) http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=35497&query=passports
[Accessed 1 Oct. 2003]
Times of India [New Delhi]. 29
October 2001. "Laden's Elite Soldiers Fleeing Afghanistan."
(Afgha.com) http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=9044&query=afghan%20documents
[Accessed 1 Oct. 2003]
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR). 15 March 2003. "Return: Information Update 1-15
March." (Kabul office) http://www.unhcr.org.uk/afghanistan/documents/29eng.pdf
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
_____. 3 April 2002. "Key Repatriation
Agreement for Afghans in Iran Signed in Geneva." (Relief Web) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/s/2A8C799D7E35DB19C1256B90004B2E6B
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
United Nations Information Centre
(UNIC). 4 February 2002. "UN Press Briefing in Islamabad 04 Feb
2002." (Relief Web) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/949ecc2d0325f01a85256b560068d3c0?OpenDocument
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). 25 April 2002.
"Turkmenistan: Afghans Going Home." (Relief Web) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/cd1d42fffa6b8e4a49256ba7001b3299?OpenDocument
[Accessed 30 Sept. 2003]
United States (US). 3 April 2003.
Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. "Visa Reciprocity
and Country Documents Finder: Afghanistan." http://travel.state.gov/reciprocity/Country%20Folder/A/Afghanistan.htm
[Accessed 29 Sept. 2003]
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including:
Afgha.com
Amnesty International
European Country of Origin Information
Network
Human Rights Watch
Refugee Council
Relief Web
UK IND April 2003 Assessment
UNHCR Country of Origin Database
USCR
World News Connection
Identity documents carried by Afghan citizens; ease or difficulty in obtaining these documents [AFG42059.E] (Response, French)