Registering refugees: Afghans won’t be forced out, says Khattak
An Afghan refugee woman, clad in a burqa, sits with her sleeping boy as they wait with others to be repatriated to Afghanistan, at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office on the outskirts of Peshawar, February 2, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government and Afghanistan on Monday agreed that Afghan refugees will not be sent back to their home country by force.
According to a statement issued after a meeting between Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai and K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Speaker Asad Qaiser and prominent political leaders of the province, both the sides agreed on registration of refugees.
K-P and Afghanistan also agreed on the revival of Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga, mechanism to boost trade, transport and provision of better health facilities to Afghan patients in Pakistan.
Leader of Opposition in K-P Assembly Maulana Lutfur Rehman, QWP leader Sikandar Sherpao, provincial ministers Shahram Tarakai, Inayatullah Khan, Mushtaq Ghani and other lawmakers were present in the meeting.
The Afghan ambassador said a delegation of Afghan military officers will visit Peshawar and Quetta soon to forge cooperation against terrorists.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2015.