How Pakistan Border Closures Hurt Kandahar Farmers and Traders

I—this, this, for six years, I've been doing this work.

They took me to Pakistan, to the mines. For up to six years when we were together with Pakistan once, there was no state.

Wherever you go, even if you go to China, wherever you go, they won't be with us.

If they spend it all, if they spend it all, and everything is known about what we have now, only through certain places can we get it, they won't be with us again.

Our connection with Pakistan is that our goods reach Pakistan, that's all, our connection.

Yes, yes, we have connections with other countries.

Other countries, if they spend it, spend it, spend it.

If it gets spent. It's been three or four years, we've been selling to people.

They keep closing the routes through Pakistan, and ruin our work.

We farmers in the fields, our crops that are ready, we harvest them, and make more of that, he does the work, he turns it over, the farmer who makes that thing.

So Pakistan is our concern, our work together.

Our concern is only with Pakistan. We believe Pakistan is our route, together with our concern.

We are not a single state together. But this matter sometimes…

But the issue was like this: Our goods would arrive, and Pakistan would make excuses, and close the gates for two months, but when these goods came back…

they brought them to Afghanistan. It is clear this way, it would not be stopped.

Look, I… I was six years old, now eight or nine years old.

I gave up this work. They would close it for five days, then open it again. Open it again.

They would open it for us, and we would open it for them.

When they closed our route completely like that, all our goods would be lost.

Traders would sell to people at great expense, bringing raisins, apricots, pomegranates, and suffering great losses. when the routes were closed.

They were unloaded in the cold season, they were unloaded in Jalalabad, they were unloaded in Karachi, then taken back out.

It has ruined the markets. This is its taste. This kind of produce loses its flavor on you.

Here, there are hundreds of thousands of pomegranates in Afghanistan.

There are hundreds of thousands in Kandahar.

It’s not just Arghandab. There aren’t pomegranates like those in Kandahar anywhere else in Afghanistan.

Kandahar has all these pomegranates, and those are in Zabul Province.

They call it Arghandab. There are pomegranates throughout these areas.

When this fruit comes to us, our produce doesn’t go to waste.

Then it will come to us, Our produce can’t be sold cheaply this way.

People will come and eat it. It’s cold now, with it open.

People will come and buy that fruit. Then they won’t buy ours.

Then all our produce won’t taste good. Apples come from us, bananas come from us, So if that route is closed, this one will be closed too, only that one will be closed, Then our produce will be sold here again.

And then, now that Pakistan has closed the route at this point, For us, it costs more via Iran.

You saw it yourself. How much is it? How much are the tomatoes? Chariyak is one hundred and twenty Afghanis, per kilo, one hundred and twenty Afghanis.

So, fine, give us a round figure for this.

When my tomatoes come to that, just give me bags, two maunds of bags.

Meaning, how many kilos is that? Two maunds. It comes to nine kilos.

Nine kilos, it comes to nine kilos. These nine kilos of our tomatoes are twenty Afghanis.

Nine kilos of tomatoes for twenty Afghanis, and this chariyak comes to one hundred and twenty Afghanis for us.

So what profit do we make from this in Iran?

What profit have we made? And look, we used to give it a nice taste, We used to do it throughout the year.

It gives a good taste in Jeddah. Then when it arrived, they took it back out.

When they took it out, it went to Naki. They didn't make any money.

Have you seen Nari in the market? They do all this in the market with Malta, or with what they call she.

They do it by the kilo. Now, one dozen kilos from Pakistan costs us one hundred and twenty Afghanis.

So our pomegranates come in, and stay with us, Our grenki, when they come up for us, Our grapes, our grape orchards, they take them door to door, They’re beautifully wrapped and sold to people.

So they say Pakistan has wronged us. Whoever did it is an oppressor.

Whoever has wronged us like this, we count them among the oppressors.