Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday extended the stay for Afghan refugees in his country, pushing back a previously announced deadline by three months, a government statement said.
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Pakistan cabinet led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday chose to allow about three million Afghan refugees to stay in the country till March next year, saying adequate and concrete steps would be taken for them.”Afghans are our brothers and very dear to us”.
It is also worth mentioning here that there are over 3 million Afghan refugees now residing in Pakistan, while during the first eight months this year, over 100,000 refugees have been relocated to camps in Afghanistan.
These refugees came in 1980s in Pakistan during Afghan war and majority are still staying despite repeated warnings and deadlines by Pakistan to go back.
The statement quotes Sharif as saying that Afghan refugees are “guests” of Pakistan and that steps will be taken to ensure their safety.
Sharif also asked Pakistani officials to meet with representatives of Afghan refugees to address their concerns.
Kabul had initially wanted Islamabad to extend their refugees’ stay until the end of December next year.
According to the latest report of UNHCR, over a lac of refugees have returned to Afghanistan in July and August out of the total of 1.5 million registered persons while those who are unregistered are in equal numbers.
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