Afghan refugees: all APC proposals to be placed before Federal Cabinet

All the proposals presented by the participants of an All-Parties Conference (APC) on Afghan refugees will be placed before the Federal Cabinet for formal approval during its upcoming meeting. The APC was held here at Pak Secretariat on Monday in the chair of Minister for States and Frontier Regions Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch (Retd).
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Governor KP Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Siraj-ul-Haq, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, Aftab Sherpao and others participated in the APC to formulate a joint strategy on evacuation of Afghan refugees.
Abdul Qadir Baloch said that no Afghan refugee has ever been repatriated by force as Pakistan believes in dignified return of the refugees. He said the government will issue visas to the refugees who have their legitimate businesses in Pakistan and there is a technical need to extend stay of the refugees in the country. The registered refugees get the funds from UNHCR, he said, adding that there is no law to grant citizenship to the refugees.
Secretary SAFRON Muhammad Shahzad Arbab told media persons that a proposal of the issuance of visas to Afghan refugees on the border has been shared during the APC while the Cabinet will decide on registration of the refugees. The decision to call the APC was taken by the Federal Government in wake of new extension given to registered Afghan refugees to stay in Pakistan until March 2017.
Senator Usman Kakar said Pakistan should play a role in restoration of peace in Afghanistan and the Afghan refugees will automatically go back to their homes, once the peace is established there. He also urged upon the Government to put in place legislation over citizenship of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan because 74 percent of the children of the refugees were born here.
Awami National Party leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said that security situation in Afghanistan has yet to improve, but the refugees cannot live in Pakistan forever. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Senator Siraj-ul-Haq said the refugees have been living in different parts of the country happily as the local population had welcomed them warmly. PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Afghan refugees should be sent home with dignity and all parties have developed a consensus on the issue. He said that all 1.5 million refugees will be hopefully sent back by the end of 2017, though allies of the Government have yet to reach a consensus on the issue of repatriation. Qureshi also lamented that the refugees have been living in Pakistan for the last 30 years but no effective legislation for them has been done ever.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said the Federal Government should start a registration drive for all the unregistered refugees in the country. He said that all Afghan refugees have been going back to their homes in Afghanistan on their own will and the KPK government wants to see completion of the repatriation process in due time. "We cannot violate the international agreements," he said, adding that both KPK and the Federal Government wish peaceful and dignified repatriation of Afghan refugees.
The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions also announced that validity of the Tripartite Agreement for governing the voluntary repatriation of Afghan citizens living in Pakistan signed by the governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on May 7, 2010 in Lahore is extended until December 31, 2016 with the same preamble, terms, conditions and articles.
Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Minister for Ports and Shipping, said the Afghan refugees should not be granted extension in their stay in Pakistan because majority of them is responsible for the worst security situation in the country. He said that it is high time now for repatriation of the refugees to their home country as their presence is not only hurting the country's economy but is also causing unemployment for the locals. The refugees live in camps in Iran, but the situation is different here in Pakistan, he said, adding that he doesn't agree to the opinion that repatriation of the refugees will hurt national economy.
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said that it is Pakistan's moral responsibility to send the Afghan refugees back with dignity and respect. He urged the Government to evolve a consensus strategy on the issue as soon as possible. Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman also raised a number of questions during the meeting about repatriation of Afghan refugees and its impact on the country's economy and labour force.