Afghan refugees not involved in terrorism inside Pakistan: Minister

Published December 7, 2015
The Minister said that Pakistan bore the brunt of Afghan war and super powers' intervention in the region.─APP/File
The Minister said that Pakistan bore the brunt of Afghan war and super powers' intervention in the region.─APP/File

QUETTA: Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron), General (rtd) Abdul Qadir Baloch on Sunday said no Afghan refugee was found involved in any kind of terrorist activity inside Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference on his visit to Quetta along with German Ambassador Ina Ruth Luise, Chief of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Indrika Ratwatte and representatives from various donor countries, Baloch said that the government has not found any evidence with regard to the involvement of Afghan refugees in any terror acts.

The Minister however stated that some Afghan refugees were involved in street crimes and other illegal business, dispelling the impression about their involvement in any act of terror in the country.

"We will prosecute and deport any Afghan refugee if found guilty of any crime or subversive activity," he said.

When asked about the number of registered Afghan refugees in Balochistan, the Federal Minister said that there are about 2,81000 registered refugees in the province.

Baloch claimed that the Afghan refugees were residing in Pakistan in the light of an international agreement and convention. "We cannot force them to go back.

When asked about the repatriation of Afghan refugees languishing in various refugees camps in the province, he claimed that the number of registered and non registered refugees could be close to 1 million in Balochistan.

The Minister said Afghanistan and Pakistan bore the brunt of international powers' intervention in Afghanistan and suffered financial losses.

Commenting on UNHCR's Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) program in Balochistan, the Minister said Pakistan suffered financial losses of billions of dollars due to the influx of Afghan refugees and only 600 million dollars were not enough to compensate the host communities in the country.

"It is a meager amount, which cannot compensate the host communities", he said.

According to the UNHCR, Pakistan has hosted almost 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees for over 35 years which is the largest protracted refugee population globally. A large number of unregistered Afghans are also living in various parts of the country.

Since 2002, the UN body has facilitated the return of 3.8 million registered Afghans from Pakistan. UNHCR has again urged the international community to increase their engagement for voluntary repatriation under the UNHCR assisted voluntary repatriation programme.

After the Army Public School (APS) attack in December last year, the repatriation of Afghan refugees has spiked. Around 3,000 to 4,000 refugees left for Afghanistan each month from January to March this year; during the same time period in 2014 (January to March), a total of 761 refugees had left Pakistan for Afghanistan.

Also Read: UNHCR chief praises Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees

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