Afghan refugees being provided facilities despite crises: FM Qureshi

Afghan refugees being provided facilities despite crises: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday has told that millions of Afghan refugees are being given basic facilities in Pakistan despite crises.

Addressing the two-day International Conference to mark forty years of Afghan Refugees’ Presence in Pakistan, the minister said that resolving Afghan conflict is inevitable for peace in the region. The relation between Pakistan and Afghanistan is based on joint religion and culture, he added.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi told that Pakistan is hosting five million refugees as per Islamic values. Every migrant is hoping that peace will restore leading to repatriation, he asserted.

The minister further stated that no country can handle this issue alone.   The foreign minister urged the world to join hands with Pakistan to provide basic needs to Afghan refugees and enable them to live a dignified life. Caring should be a shared responsibility, he went on to say. He said Afghan refugees are expecting the world to rebuild their country after restoration of peace there. It is to be mentioned here that the conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan while United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, ministers and senior officials from around twenty countries also participated in the event.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan has always supported peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan as it believes that peace in the neighboring country will improve regional stability.

Addressing a joint news conference along with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Qureshi said that we had a very fruitful meeting with the UN Secretary General in which we discussed a host of issues. He said we have to agree on a time bound roadmap for repatriation of Afghan refugees, supported by the international community. Pakistan is a responsible member of the UN and there is a lot of two way cooperation between the two. We are committed to principles and values of the UN charter. We support multilateralism instead of unilateralism,” he said.