Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has regretted that the UNHCR has "only provided limited support to who they consider are refugees" even as the world faces the economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

"The UNHCR has only provided limited support to who they consider are refugees by a very strict definition which excludes 1.6 million Afghan refugees," he said while addressing a conference.

"Overall, the UNHCR has launched an appeal of $20.6mn for Afghan refugees in Pakistan amidst Covid-19 [crisis]. However, that amount is clearly not enough as it only caters towards the needs of 1.4 million POR cardholders registered with UNHCR and does not take into account 1.6 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan."

Qureshi said that the Pakistani government has been providing health facilities to the Afghan refugees living in the country "without discrimination".

"Virus does not differentiate between who UNHCR considers as refugees. Such an approach is truly discriminatory," he said.