- KPK govt refuses to extend stay of Afghan refugees
ISLAMABAD, June 28: Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad Dr Omar Zakhilwal on Tuesday called on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and discussed the Afghan refugees issue with him.
The PTI led Khyber Pakhtunhwa government has started crackdown against Afghan refugees and asked them to renew the identity cards by June 30. The provincial government has arrested over 2000 Afghans in Peshawar during last one month. The provincial government has also strongly opposed extension in the stay of the Afghan refugees.
Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal informed the PTI chief about the problems of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to reports, the Afghan ambassador urged Imran Khan to direct the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government not to harass the refugees.
Meanwhile the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday refused to extend the stay of Afghan immigrants in the province. Talking to reporters, KP government spokesperson Mushtaq Ghani said that the province cannot bear the economic burden of Afghan refugees anymore. Continued on page 6
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The stay deadline for Afghan refuges is going to expire on June 30. The KP provincial government had set June 30 as a deadline for Afghan immigrants to get themselves registered in Pakistan.
Ghani said that KP cannot bear the load of more than three million Afghans in the province. Ghani said if federal government wished to extend the stay of Afghan settlers then it needs to establish refugee camps and shift the immigrants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab.
“After June 30, all Afghan refugees will be restricted to their camps and will not be allowed to move freely in the province,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have arrested over 2000 illegal Afghan refugees. According to the KP police, search operations are underway and over 2,000 illegal Afghan refugees have been arrested so far.
“Around 950 illegal Afghan immigrants were arrested from Cantonment area, 350 from Peshawar city and 700 Afghanis have been arrested from the city’s rural areas,” police said, adding that the arrests have been made during operations carried out over the past month. Moreover, at least 400 Afghan settlers have been deported to Afghanistan, police said.-Sabah
