Pakistan hands over Afghan boy who went missing in 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday handed over an Afghan child who had gone missing in Islamabad in 2015 to officials at the Afghan Embassy.

Ubaidullah, whose family had travelled from Afghanistan to Islamabad where his father underwent medical treatment, went missing in 2015, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a press statement.

“The mother of the child could not find any clue about his whereabouts after he went missing, but had to leave for Afghanistan due to the sudden demise of his father,” the FO said.

Ubaidallah was later found by Islamabad Police on November 7, 2015, and was handed over to the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB).

While the CPWB “provided him a homelike environment along with education, healthcare and psychological counselling”, Pakistani authorities continued efforts to trace his family in Afghanistan, the FO said.

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua handed him over to Afghan officials on Friday.

The FO said that the government of Afghanistan had appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to protect the child and hand him over to his family.