No Afghan refugees on terror watch: minister

Anyone found guilty will be sent back, warns Qadir Baloch

QUETTA: No Afghan refugees have been found to be involved in any kind of terrorist activities inside Pakistan, General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch has said.

The minister for states and FrontiDer Regions (Safron) was in Quetta on Sunday to review the pace of ongoing work under Refugees-Affected Host Areas (Raha) programme in Balochistan. German Ambassador Ina Ruth Luise Lepel and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Indrika Ratwatte accompanied him along with representatives from various donor countries.



“We have not found any evidence regarding the involvement of Afghan refugees in terror acts,” Baloch said while addressing a press conference at a hotel.

He added that some Afghan refugees were involved in street crimes and other illegal business. “We will prosecute and deport any Afghan refugee if found guilty.”

When asked about the number of registered Afghan refugees in Balochistan, the minister said the current figure was 281,000. “They are living in the country in the light of an international agreement. We cannot force them to go back.”

Baloch, however, said the number of registered and non-registered refugees could be close to 1 million in Balochistan alone. The proof of registration (POR) cards of Afghan refugees will expire on December 31.

Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said, faced the brunt of international powers intervention in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Afghanistan. “Afghanistan suffered in terms of human and financial losses after the invasion as the world punished the former world power.”

Commenting on Raha programme, the Safron minister said Pakistan had suffered financial losses worth billions of dollars in the aftermath of influx of refugees. “Only $600 million are not enough to compensate the host communities,” he said. “It is a meagre amount.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.