PESHAWAR, Nov 27: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said that, for the sake of a lasting peace in the region, the international community must have to work together for a multi- ethnic dispensation in the war-torn Afghanistan.

He was talking to Swedish parliamentarians at the Governor’s House here on Monday, according to a handout.

The governor said the situation in Afghanistan had totally changed, which had put tremendous pressure on border areas.

He said the Soviet occupation had forced 3.7 million Afghans to leave their country, but at the same time, the repatriation of refugees continued. However, there was in-fighting among the Afghan warlords, he said, adding that the influx of Afghan refugees continued even after Russian withdrawal.

The governor said that there were at present almost two million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees in the NWFP. However, he observed, that in the recent past the Afghans were forced to migrate by the prolonged drought in their country, followed by airstrikes.

Presently, he said about 2,000 Afghans were crossing over to Pakistan everyday, he said, adding that the fresh influx of refugees had put an extra burden on the service delivery system and even rendered the performance of various public sector institutions deficient.