PM announces registered Afghan refugees can now open bank accounts in Pakistan

Announcing that registered Afghan refugees can now open bank accounts in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that this process should have been done a long time ago.

The prime minister said that Afghans should have been allowed to do this a long way back, which would let Afghans participate in the formal economy of Pakistan. The premier took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "I have issued instructions today that Afghan refugees who are registered can open bank accounts and from now on wards they can participate in the formal economy of the country.

I have issued instructions today that Afghan refugees who are registered can open bank accounts and from now onwards they can participate in the formal economy of the country . This should have been done a long time ago.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 25, 2019

After assuming office last year, PM Khan had announced that the new government would be issuing national identity cards to Pakistan-born Afghan refugees. “These people are human and they have been deprived of citizenship,” the premier said, adding that it was cruelty that even the children of the refugees born in Pakistan were not given citizenship.