Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Leading political parties of the country have rejected the forceful exile of Afghan refugees and recommended giving them more time for voluntary expatriation. This was said in a meeting held here under the auspices of SAFRON Ministry in which Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman from JUI(F), Mehmood Achakzai from PMAP, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao from JWP, Ameer JI Siraj-ul-Haq, ANP’s leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour , leader form PML(Q) Ajmal Khan Wazir, Mir Kabir Ahmed represented National Party , PPP’s leader Robina , federal minister SAFRON Lt.Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Chief Commissioner Afghan Refugees Dr Imran Zeb , Information Minister KP Mushtaq Ghani and Secretary SAFRON participated.

The meeting proposed that a separate policy might be prepared for those Afghan refugees who are doing business here, or got an education from Pakistani institutions or marry into Pakistani families. Chief Commissioner Afghan refugees gave this briefing to the meeting in which he informed the political leadership that the number of registered Afghan refugees in the country is 1.486 million, whereas almost as many were living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan unregistered.

He said that some 186,602 registered and about 265,000 unregistered refugees had gone back to Afghanistan willingly during the last two years. Each family was provided USD400, when they entered their homeland. He told the meeting that the deadline of March 2017 was given for the voluntary return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman said that Pakistan had been hosting Afghan refugees for 35 years and the country’s problems would be increased with the forceful expulsion of Afghan refugees. He said that it was very unfortunate that in spite of giving big sacrifices, Pakistan could not develop good relations with her neighbours, which is a big proof of the failure of foreign policy.

Ameer Jamat-i-Islami Saraj-ul-Haq said that the image of Pakistan was deteriorating due to current policy on Afghan refugees. It is not appropriate to throw them out over the border after loading them into trucks after hosting them for 35 years. He said that ties between two countries were heavily dependent on the issue of refugees.

“All the countries of the world have set policies for giving nationality to foreigners but here in Pakistan such a system does not exist. A clear-cut policy should be formed for those Afghan nationals who were born in Pakistan or married to Pakistani women,” he added.

Vice President Awami National Party Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said that the Afghan refugees should not be compelled to leave the country, but encouraged to leave of their own free will. Aftab Sherpao said that the way that the government planned to send Afghan refugees back would create more foes of Pakistan. He suggested forming a parliamentary committee to settle the issue of Afghan refugees.

Mehmood Achakzai said that Pakistan should take care in dealing with the issue of honourable return of Afghan refugees. He was of the view that at the moment, Pakistan stood on the verge of war, and peace in Afghanistan was related to peace in Pakistan.