KABUL (Pajhwok): The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has said reiterated its plan to expel all illegal Afghan refugees, following a spike in insurgent attacks in the northwestern province.
A mechanism would be evolved for the honourable repatriation of legal Afghan refugees as soon as possible, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said on Wednesday.
“Similarly, our borders with FATA also need immediate attention to secure province and rest of the country from infiltration of miscreants by sending back and deployment of FC platoons to borders,” he said.
Khattak expressed the hope the federal government, in light of the recommendations of an all-party conference in Peshawar, would take bold steps to secure the country.
The Dec. 16 Peshawar school attack, which killed almost 150 people, had awakened the entire nation and stirred the conscience of the world.
He viewed the presence of millions of Afghan refugees as the main reason for persistent occurrences of terrorism, unrest and crimes. They had also increased pressure on Pakistan’s economy and resources, he reasoned.
The KP government, both at provincial and central level, would take steps to immediately expel all illegal refugees. However, he explained a procedure would be evolved for honourable repatriation of legal refugees.
On Monday, a UN official indicated Pakistan could take any decision on dealing with undocumented refugees. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative Yoshimi Saits said they were responsible only for registered Afghans with Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.
About .6 million Afghans are currently living legally and one million without proper documents in Pakistan. One million refugees live in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
PAN Monitor/mud
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