Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday asked the international community to help in the honourable repatriation of Afghan refugees.
Talking to Antonio Guterres, UN high commissioner for Afghan refugees, at the Prime Minister’s House, Gilani complained about the lack of support from the international community in repatriating the refugees. “It seems the international community has forgotten the Afghan refugees,” Gilani said.
The prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process in the war-torn country that would not destabilise Pakistan. He said the return of the Afghan refugees to their native country was important in the war against terror, as some 30,000 to 40,000 Afghans cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and make it impossible for the authorities to distinguish between a tourist and a terrorist.
He said the Pakistani people and the democratic government had the resolve and capacity to defeat the terrorist forces, and the safe return of Afghan refugees to their homeland would help in this pursuit.
The UN high commissioner praised Pakistan’s hospitality to over three million Afghan refugees, who escaped the Soviet invasion in 1979. He said the UN agency was reaching out to the international community to invest in 48 identified areas within Afghanistan which would encourage the Afghan refugees to permanently return to their native country and avail attractive job opportunities.
Guterres also urged the Pakistani government to register all the refugees, saying that non-registered immigrants should not be treated as refugees under UN rules.
