UNITED NATIONS: A top Pakistani diplomat has underscored the urgency of addressing the current humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan, saying without its resolution Pakistan and the world may face the prospect of the inflow of millions of Afghan refugees escaping hunger and starvation.
“Pakistan will not be able to accommodate them,” Ambassador Munir Akram made it clear during a virtual discussion organized by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday, pointing to the presence of over 3.5 million Afghan refugees on its soil – the second largest concentration of refugees – for the longest time – 40 years.
The topic of discussion was: “The Global Compact on Refugees Three Years On: Translating Cooperation into concrete Responses to Forced Displacement”. In his remarks, the Pakistani envoy said any new outflow of Afghan refugees would have to be hosted by other members of the international community.
“To avoid a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, and to prevent another massive outflow of refugees, the international community must provide urgent humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan’s deprived and desperate population.”
On its part, he said, Pakistan continues to pursue an inclusive, generous and compassionate approach towards Afghan refugees as it was currently hosting, consistent with humanitarian principles.
Before and during the ongoing pandemic, Pakistan provided equal and unhindered access to public health facilities, education, and livelihood to refugees. In this regard, Ambassador Akram called for donors to support host countries by providing timely, predictable, and multi-year grant funding; enhancing refugee
self-reliance that requires education and skill development through financial and technical assistance to the host countries; decreasing the number of receiving countries for resettlement of refugees from 37 to 25 in 2020, with developed countries establishing multi-year resettlement schemes in the spirit of burden and responsibility, and voluntary repatriation and reintegration in the refugees in their countries of origin.
“The international community should introduce fully-funded repatriation programs for refugee-hosting countries and countries of origin; increase ODA (official development assistance) for countries of origin to enable them to receive returnees; invest in developing their infrastructure; introduce programs for creating livelihood opportunities; and lift sanctions for providing unhindered humanitarian assistance, as in the case of Afghanistan,” Ambassador Akram added.
