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Pakistan wants safe return of 3m Afghans
FO says agreement with UNHCR on Afghan refugees to expire in 2015
APP
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Thursday appealed to Afghanistan to make its country suitable for honourable and safe return of more than three million Afghan refugees, living in different areas of Pakistan.
During a weekly briefing here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that Pakistan would be happy for the honourable return of the refugees to Afghanistan. Also, the agreement to keep these refugees in Pakistan with the UN Human Right Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) would expire in 2015, she said.
Therefore, Pakistan appeals to Afghanistan to make its country suitable for the safe return of the refugees, she said. Referring to an upcoming conference in China, she said Pakistan wants that no country of the region or beyond should interfere in Afghanistan. “We call upon all countries not to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs,” she said.
Afghanistan should be allowed to identify its own needs, she said. “We believe and follow strict policy of non-interference in internal matters of Afghanistan,” she said. To a question, she said that verified figure of Pakistanis who crossed border into Afghanistan precisely was 67120 and not 200,000.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk