The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights was informed on Monday of the dire situation Pakistan is in as a result of the presence of more than 1.4 million Afghan refugees, following the rejection of more Afghan asylum applications by the US and European nations. The fact that the government has not yet developed a policy in this area also startled the committee members. A senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the members of the committee, which met under the leadership of Dr. Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto of the PPP, and stated that Pakistan could not afford the influx of additional refugees while also being unable to forcibly send them back across the border where their lives were in danger.
The committee members were informed that the Afghan nationals who had arrived in Pakistan after August 2021 were actually asylum seekers who wished to immigrate to the US and certain European nations rather than being deemed refugees.
According to the official, the administration would look into how these Afghans could be taken care of if they were not permitted to travel to the nations they sought.
North Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar expressed surprise that the government had no rules or procedures for handling these asylum seekers. He regretted that not even the number of asylum seekers trapped in Pakistan had been disclosed to the committee.
Whatever their number, the issue wants something to do with them, according to Mr. Dawar.
The committee’s head gave the Islamabad police instructions to treat these Afghan refugees—including women and children—better when they are currently camping in parks and other public areas of the city.
