Pak at UN urges help for refugee hosts

Highlighting Pakistan’s achievement of hosting over 3.5 million Afghan refugees, Saima Saleem, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to UN, has urged developed countries to financially help developing countries catering to a large number of refugees and also offer the option of resettlement in third world countries.

Addressing a UN panel meeting on Friday, the Pakistan delegate said, “The international community needs to provide adequate, predictable, regular and sustainable financial support in line with the principle of responsibility sharing for Afghan refugees in the neighbouring countries.”

Saima, the first ever visually impaired diplomat of the country, was participating in an interactive dialogue with Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural matters in Pakistan.

She highlighted how she was committed to the principle of voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in safe and dignified ways but termed it imperative to be backed by time-bound return and repatriation plans.

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In this regard, Saima relayed Pakistan’s concern over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, especially as winter approaches, and called for immediate steps to rectify the situation.

“Under the circumstances, the freezing of the Afghan government’s overseas assets is entirely unjustified,” the Pakistani delegate said, adding that intensifying suffering of the Afghan people could trigger massive outflow of refugees, revive internal displacement within Afghanistan and raise the threat of terrorism originating from there.

“Bilateral and international sanctions are impacting the work of the humanitarian organisations and have disabled banking and financial sectors,” Saima added.

Earlier briefing the committee, Grandi, the UNHCR said he invoked the seventieth anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, celebrated this year, and appealed for renewed international solidarity.

“We must never forget that nobody wants to live with the anxiety of exile,” he said, describing UNHCR’s focus on solutions.

From Afghanistan and Yemen to Ethiopia and elsewhere, Grandi requested more resources and the establishment of enabling conditions to serve those in need, hindrance free.

He objected the construction of walls and the outsourcing of asylum management in wealthier countries, stressing that borders should be kept secure without compromising the dignity of refugees.