ISLAMABAD: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Fillippo Grandi called on Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar and Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch here on Wednesday.
Grandi conveyed his best wishes for speedy recovery of the prime minister to the ministers, said in statement issued by Ministry for Finance. Senator Dar thanked the high commissioner and assured him that his best wishes would be conveyed to the prime minister.
Grandi stated that the purpose of his visit at the time of the World Refugee Day was to highlight the significance and contribution of Pakistan to the refugee issue, which is a global concern. He discussed with the ministers the recent world refugee situation and stated that the UNHCR has continued to extend support to Pakistan for the Afghan refugees.
He apprised the minister of his discussions with Afghan and Iranian officials with a view to chalk out a plan for the repatriation of the displaced Afghan people. He also stated that UNHCR had doubled the amount of cash assistance for voluntarily returning Afghans. Senator Dar stated that Pakistan had borne the brunt of the global war on terrorism and the economy had suffered huge losses during the last many years.
– ‘Three million refugees for over three decades’ –
He said that Pakistan had also hosted more than three million refugees for more than three decades. “Pakistan is also single-handedly managing resources for Zarb-e-Azb military operation against the militants as well as meeting the financial requirements of the internally displaced families,” he said. With an elected government in Afghanistan, the situation for repatriation of Afghan refugees should improve, he said.
Dar said that the government of Pakistan was fully committed to a solution strategy for the Afghan refugees “which we want UNHCR to help implement.” The participants of the meeting agreed that a time-bound action plan agreed by Afghanistan, UN and the international community for the safe return of the Afghan population needed to be chalked out.
The action plan should link disbursement of financial resources with clearly stated performance benchmarks. The international community must play its due role, as peace and prosperity in Afghanistan is in the interest of everyone. The UN high commissioner assured the finance minister of his continued support on the issue of Afghan refugees and also invited Pakistan to participate in “Migrant and Refugee Summit” to be held in September in New York this year.
