QUETTA: Federal Minister Amir Muqam has sought the support of the international community, United Nations and Kabul government for the repatriation of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

During his visit to an Afghan refugees’ camp in Saranan, Qila Abdullah, on Thursday, Mr Muqam, who is the minister for States and Frontier Regions, said Pakistan will provide “all possible help and assistance” to the returning Afghan refugees for their “honourable and respectful” departure to their country.

“I’m visiting the refugee camp myself to review the difficulties being faced by you people,” said Mr Muqam, whose ministry oversees matters relating to merged areas and Afghan refugees.

He said no country in the world, other than Pakistan, allowed refugees to live without proper documentation.

Says shortage of doctors, water issues in camps to be addressed

While referring to terrorist attacks in Pakistan, the federal minister asked the Afghan government to ensure that its soil is not used for attacks in any other nation, including Pakistan.

He also claimed that Afghan immigrants living in different countries were doing “propaganda” against Pakistan.

“They have to realise that they should not create difficulties for Afghan refugees living in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Muqam said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif always supported Afghan refugees and advised him to provide all the facilities for them.

He said the purpose of his visit was to review the situation in the camp and assure the refugees that their problems would be resolved.

The minister said refugees were facing health issues of a lack of drinking water and promised “all-out efforts” to resolve the issues.

The shortage of doctors and medicines will also be addressed along with the provision of clean drinking water.

He said that the government was also expanding the facility of Proof of Registration cards and that the cards that had been blocked would be restored after a review.

Mr Muqam agreed there was a need to provide educational facilities to the children of Afghan refugees and said the government would soon appoint teachers.

He said UNHCR and other institutions would be consulted on the project of providing solar panels and batteries to the families living in refugee camps.

The government was also providing seats and scholarships to Afghan students in different universities and colleges.

Meeting

During his visit to the district, Mr Muqam also emphasised the need for maximum utilisation of resources to effectively achieve the objectives of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees.

While presiding over a high-level meeting on Thursday, the minister said: “Our tremendous efforts will continue to ensure the protection and welfare of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan peacefully.”

The meeting, while discussing the repatriation of illegal Afghan refugees, expressed satisfaction over the performance of institutions concerned and took various decisions for the next phase of repatriation.

Afghan Refugees Commissioner Arbab Talib briefed the minister on the overall performance of the organisation.

The meeting was informed about various projects, funding details and the implementation of proposed new initiatives in Baloch­is­tan.

The head of UNHCR sub-office Quetta, CAR Chief Commissioner Abbas Khan and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024