World Refugees Day: Peace termed must for safe return of Afghans
Afghan Commissioner for Refugees Abdul Saboor Kakar urged international organisations and communities to help restore peace in Afghanistan so that refugees could go back to their country with honour and dignity.
“Refugees will not have access to basic facilities like education, health and employment till there is peace in Afghanistan,” he said on Wednesday while addressing a seminar on World Refugee Day organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Kakar said there are currently over 350,000 refugees in Balochistan.
“Refugees are reluctant to go back to Afghanistan fearing that the Nato pullout in 2014 would further deteriorate the security situation,” he said.
He added that Pakistan was striving hard for the safe repatriation of millions of Afghan refugees. “A concerted strategy is being evolved with the Afghan government on the issue of Afghan refugees,” he said, adding that political stability in Afghanistan would help remove the burden on Pakistan, which it has been facing since 1979. UNHCR Balochistan Senior Protection Officer Tayyiba Sharif said that Pakistan has been housing the largest number of refugees for the longest period of time in the history of the UN.
“It is high time for the world to help overcome the issue of 1.7 million Afghan refugees living in camps and urban centres across Pakistan,” she said.
She also commended the government of Pakistan for hosting millions of refugees for over 30 years. Uncertainty, poor law and order situation and lack of basic facilities in Afghanistan have slowed down the process of repatriation of refugees, Sharif said.
Currently 1.7 million refugees are registered with the UNHCR in Pakistan. As many as 352,610 refugees are living in Balochistan.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2012.
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Majority of them are unregistered refugees who are living in cities across Pakistan especially in Peshawar. All our main markets are owned by them even though they are refugees and are not suppose to be doing businesses but yet they can buy any business or posh houses without paying any tax. Security situation in Afghanistan is not worse than Pakistan.. but rather is more peaceful in most of the areas in their country. We must repatriate them immediately but people like Mr Kakar only care for themselves instead of country because once they are gone back their services will not be required anymore.