KABUL – Pakistan has been asked through negotiations and diplomaticchannels to revisit its decision on Afghan refugees’ stay in that country,Afghan Officials said.
About a week back, the Pakistani government extended for only a month thestay of registered Afghan refugees, who lost their legal stay on December31, 2017.
Hafiz Ahmad Miakhel, spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees andRepatriations (MoRR), told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday a meeting was heldto devise a specific plan for negotiating the issue with Pakistan.
At Sunday’s meeting, he said, the government’s preparations for addressingthe emergency situation of returnees were also discussed by theparticipants.
Fateha Abdullah, head of UNHCR’s site office in Afghanistanlink>, Sarah Craggs, senior programmecoordinator at IOM, the presidential envoy on refugee affairs, the UNSecurity Council representative and officials from the ministries offoreign affairs and finance attended the meeting.
Refugee Minister Sayed Hussain Alami Balkhi insisted on convincing Pakistanin political ways and mapping out an immediate plan for addressing theemergency situations.
The deputy minister also spoke on the occasion, saying the registration ofrefugees without documents was ongoing in Pakistan and so far 700,000people had been documented and the number could reach nearly 900,000.
He said there had been no sign of torture of refugees in the neighbouringcountry. He hoped the proof of registration (POR) cards of Afghan refugeeswould be extended for six months.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative briefed the participantsabout Afghanistan’s diplomatic efforts. The Afghan embassy in Islamabad hasshared the issue with Pakistani authorities.
Fateha, rhe UNHCR head, expressed high commissionerlink>’sconcern, saying that addressing and controlling this phenomenon was at thetop of the priority list of refugee agency.
IOM’s Sarah also expressed the concern of the organisation’s head over theissue. The Geneva-based IOM headquarters was ready for any kind of support,she said.
During the meeting, the presidential envoy stressed political steps forconvincing Pakistan to review its decision. He insisted on preparations fora possible emergency situation.