Islamabad: The Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervez Khattak has called upon the federal government to make an immediate decision for the repatriation or otherwise of Afghan refugees.
\n\u201cThe unregistered refugees posed a threat to the security of the province\u201d, he added. He asked for a plan for the stay of the refugees and there should be a regulatory regime for their business. Because our own economy is sledging down and the black economy is surfacing. Their stay has overburdened the health and education sector infrastructure, he added.
\nHis government was contemplating to gave her the status of refugees but of late she changed her mind and we don\u2019t know the reason behind her decision. Pervez Khattak also warned against the blocking of national identity card of the Pakhtun which he said was a dangerous act and this would create new problems for the country.
\nHe was addressing the participants of a meeting at SAFRON Pak Secretariat Islamabad who gathered to plan the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees. Federal Minister for Safron Lt. General\u00ae Abdul Qadir Baloch, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zafar Iqbal Jhagra JUI (F) head Moulana Fazal-ur Rehman, JI Ameer Sirajul Haq, QWP head Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Hasil Bezenjo, Shah Mehmood Quershi of PTI and Farhatullah Babar of PPP and others attended.
\nChief Minister said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was host to Afghan refugees for more than three decades. But now the province had different challenges and that should be understood. The Army public School and the Charsadda University incidents brought to fore different challenges and therefore it was in the national interest to ensure that nobody was roaming around without identity. There was no clear concept for the stay of refugees nor their business activities regulated and therefore there was emerged a parallel economy, he added. He said their stay was a constant burden on the infrastructure of health and education sectors. He said that their unregulated business activities brought negative impact to the local economy. The people suffered and therefore these factors should be understood before making any decision.
\nPervez Khattak said his government constituted two committees to look into the grievances and complaints of the refugees and even if the unregistered refugees are apprehended they are brought to the committee and on the guarantees of the committee they are set free. He said the federal government has to make a decision for the extension or otherwise of the Afghan refugees. There should be a clear plan.
\nHe called upon the federal government to start the registration of unregistered refugees and plan out everything and gave a policy in this regard. This would lead to maintenance in the law and order situation otherwise we would live under constant security threat. He said nobody thought of giving education to the refugees nor anybody stressed for proper looking after and making them good citizens. He said he always asked the international community to focus on the refugees problems.
\nChief Minister said that his government would never force for forced repatriation of Afghan refugees. Under the voluntary repatriation process six lac refugees including registered and unregistered returned back to their country. The Afghan President and its ambassador were also for voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees, so that they could take part in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their country. He said that Sharbat Gulla was offered the status of refugees when she requested to stay here but later she changed her mind and prompted to be repatriated to her country. He dispelled the impression that his government was forcing the refugees for repatriation. He asked that this should not be politicized because it creates problems for the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad: The Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervez Khattak has called upon the federal government to make an immediate decision for the repatriation or otherwise of Afghan refugees. \u201cThe unregistered refugees posed a threat to the security of the province\u201d, he added. He asked for a plan for the stay of the refugees and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n