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ISLAMABAD: The prime minister of Pakistan met with the director of the UN refugee agency on Tuesday to talk about the precarious position of Afghan refugees who have been living since Islamabad launched a sustained anti-migrant campaign last year.
Over 1.7 million Afghans have long resided in Pakistan; the majority of them left during the Soviet occupation that lasted from 1979 to 1989. Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, about 500,000 more people fled Afghanistan; many of them are still waiting in Pakistan to be resettled in the US and other countries. After the much-discussed crackdown began in November, an estimated 600,000 Afghans have left and gone home.
After arriving in Pakistan on Sunday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi met with Afghan refugees for two days. “I spent time with Afghan refugees, whose resourcefulness is testimony to their strength—as well as to Pakistan’s long hospitality,” he wrote on social media platform X. “Discuss how we can best support each other amidst growing challenges” was the stated goal of Grandi’s visit, he continued.
According to a statement posted by his office on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif informed the UN refugee agency that despite experiencing numerous hardships, Afghan refugees were treated with “exemplary respect and dignity.” In addition, Sharif called on the international community to “demonstrate collective responsibility and recognize the burden being shouldered by Pakistan while hosting such a large refugee population.”
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The UNHCR was also tasked by the prime minister with assisting in the “safe and dignified” return of the refugees.
Grandi also had a meeting with Asif Durrani, the nation’s special envoy to Afghanistan, on Tuesday. The two sides “expressed readiness to find a durable solution to the Afghan refugee problem, including their repatriation,” according to Durrani’s post on X.
Following the crackdown, the Taliban-led government in neighboring Pakistan has denounced Islamabad’s actions and announced the formation of a panel to handle returning nationals.
Pakistan has also faced a surge in militant attacks on security forces and civilians alike, mostly blamed on the Pakistani Taliban—aa separate militant group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban—strengthening the ties between the two countries.
