Millions of Muslim refugees could flee India: PM Imran

Says Pakistan is worried it can lead to a conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday that millions of Muslims could flee India due to the curfew in the Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) and India's new citizenship law, creating "a refugee crisis that would dwarf other crises".

Addressing the Global Forum on Refugees in Geneva, he said, "We are worried there not only could be a refugee crisis, we are worried it could lead to a conflict between two nuclear-armed countries."

"Our country will not be able to accommodate more refugees," he added, urging the world to "step in now".

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The Modi government had revoked the special status of IOK August 5 and since then millions of Kashmiris had been confined to their homes.

The world must realise that the main aim of the Indian government was to change the demographic composition of the territory from a Muslim majority to a Muslim minority, said the PM who is attending the moot as a co-convener.

PM Imran said the UN Secretary-General must also understand the complications of the steps taken by India in Assam to deprive the Muslim population of Indian nationality as well as the recently passed citizenship act.

Referring to the Afghan peace process, the premier said Pakistan was trying its best for the success of talks so that the Afghan refugees could return to their homeland with dignity.

He stressed there was the only political settlement of the Afghan conflict so that the people of Afghanistan who have been suffering from over 40 years of conflict finally can enjoy the dividends of peace.

“The people of Pakistan have hosted four million Afghan refugees with generosity for about four decades and there are still three million refugees in the country including 1.4 million registered ones,” PM Imran informed the participants.

He also paid tributes to Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population.



UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on this occasion also hailed the generosity demonstrated by different countries including Pakistan and Turkey for hosting millions of refugees.

Guterres said the international community must do more and shoulder the responsibility to address the refugee crisis.

“We cannot abandon the refugees and their protection is imperative. There is a need to mobilise international cooperation and solidarity to build the resilience of refugees in their host countries,” he said.

 

With additional input from Reuters.