Minister for SAFRON Shehryar Afridi on Friday announced that Pakistan will celebrate 2019 as the year of hospitality offered to the Afghan refugees living in the country for the last 40 years.
Addressing the participants of a ceremony held at the Afghan refugee camp at Panian in Haripur, the minister said Pakistan is the only country which has integrated the refugees into the mainstream population. He said Pakistan is the biggest host country of refugees in the world. In an era when even developed nations are refusing to accept a single boat of migrants, Pakistan is hosting millions of refugees, he said, lamenting that unfortunately the past regimes did not effectively raise the issue of the Afghan refugees at the international level. The PTI government will address all issues being faced by the Afghan refugees, he pledged.
Afridi said the relationship between Afghan refugees and the Pakistani nation is unprecedented. “Despite economic crunch and security threats, Pakistan has shared its bread and butter with their Afghan brothers,” he said. “We have a shared culture and a shared history. Migration is Sunnah,” he said, adding that there are around 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and 0.84 million cardholders in Pakistan. “Pakistan is spending heavily on Afghan refugees despite financial crunch. However, the world has backtracked on its commitment on supporting Afghan refugees,” he said, adding that he has visited the camp on the directives of Prime Minister Imram Khan.
Haibat Shah, a leader of Afghan refugees, said it’s an irony that they are refugees both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We are not being accepted back in Afghanistan. We have an identity crisis and we are aliens everywhere. When we are arrested, our bail is not allowed. We should be allowed right to bail,” he demanded, acknowledging that the PTI government has considerably addressed the issues being faced by the refugees.
Chief Commissioner Afghan refugees Salim Khan and Commissioner Abbas Khan were also present. On the occasion, a traditional Afghan Turban was also gifted to the minister. The Panian camp was established in 1980s and around 65,000 Afghan refugees live here.