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KABUL (SW): Pakistan on Wednesday revealed a plan to repatriate 1.5 million Afghan refugees by next month.
The federal cabinet of Pakistan has decided to extend Afghan refugees’ stay for just a month.
Hafizullah Miakhil, press secretary of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), told Salam Watandar that at a meeting between ministers of both the countries and the UN Special Representative for Refugees last month, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the stay of refugees in Pakistan until the end of 2018.
However, the representatives of Pakistan stressed that they will share this issue with the cabinet members, and now the decision of the cabinet has been announced yesterday (Wednesday) with a different deadline. The press secretary of the MoRR said that Pakistan’s decision is contrary to the principles of international norms. He added Pakistan has no right to make such unilateral decision.
According to Miakhil, this decision is a political one despite the fact that Islamabad promised that it will not politicize the issue of refugees. He added that the Afghan political representatives will soon act to prevent the forced repatriation of the refugees.
The authorities at the MoRR have said that the Afghan refugees should return to their country, however, this process should be done willingly and in a smooth way.
We tried to have the opinion of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on this issue but to no avail.
Malik Mohammad Khan, a member of the Afghan Refugee Leadership Council, has said the latest decision has caused panic among Afghan refugees. Meanwhile, Rustam Shah Mohmand, former Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan, told Salam Watandar that Pakistan’s decision has a political aspect, and was directly linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments related to Pakistan. He said that Islamabad will lose more with this move.
He added that Pakistan should resolve its problems with the U.S. administration directly, rather than retaliating by expelling the refugees.
A few days ago, President Trump began the New Year by launching an attack on Pakistan in his first tweet of 2018 and said: ''The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools”. President Trump added Pakistan was providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt”.
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