Pakistan may extend stay of Afghan refugees by six months

ISLAMABAD: Afghan refugees may get another extension of six months as the duration of stay for Afghan refugees in Pakistan will expire on 31 December.

However, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has requested Pakistan to extend that duration.

In this regard, a meeting of the Foreign, Interior and SAFRON ministries was held in which it was decided to extend the stay of Afghan refugees by six months.

The federal cabinet is expected to approve the summary sent by the SAFRON Ministry during its next meeting, reported a private news channel on Wednesday.

According to official record, Pakistan is currently hosting 1.9 million Afghan refugees including 1.3 million registered and 600,000 unregistered refugees. Registration process has been launched recently for unregistered refugees.