PESHAWAR - The United Nations refugee chief on Thursday urged Pakistanis not to blame Afghan refugees for terrorism in their country, amid growing public calls for their deportation and worsening relations between the two neighbours.
Warning that the roughly 2.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan risked becoming a "forgotten" crisis, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on the international community to invest more funds to help them.
"My appeal is that, not only to the authorities but also to the local population: refugees as you know are not terrorists," Grandi said during a visit to a repatriation centre outside Peshawar.
Pakistan has recently hinted at the possibility of deporting Afghan refugees, amid tense relations with Kabul.
A decision to renew their legal status by June 30 has not yet been announced, although past deadlines have been extended at the last minute.
The number of Afghans voluntarily returning home is down sharply this year as violence worsens in Afghanistan, where the government and its US allies are fighting a stubborn Taliban insurgency.
So far, about 6,000 Afghans have chosen to return home from Pakistan in 2016, compared with 58,211 voluntary repatriations last year, according to the UNHCR.
UNHCR chief Grandi said he had made the case for extending the June 30 deadline to the government in talks during his two-day visit to Pakistan. He also stressed the need for the international community to fund efforts to support Afghan refugees. "I have come here to the region on the week of World Refugee Day to highlight that Afghan refugees should not be forgotten," he said.
Filippo Grandi said in order to make repatriation of Afghan refugees more attractive “we have doubled their repatriation package, and it will start soon”.
“We have to focus on stronger solution; the best solution for the Afghan refugees is that we have to repatriate them voluntarily. So, in order to make this more attractive, we have doubled their packages of repatriation and it will start soon,” he explained.
He urged Afghan government to create better opportunities for the repatriated Afghan refugees there; the UNHCR Chief said this while talking to media-persons here at the inauguration ceremony of a Government Girls Primary School (GGPS) at Daag Behsud district Nowshera.
The UN Refugee Agency through German funding rehabilitated the existing structure of GGPS School where at least 1100 students are presently studying of whom 200 are Afghan refugees.
The Daag School upgradation is part of the United Nations and government of Pakistan’s joint Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) initiative. The UNHCR chief spent some quality time with students of the school and also inaugurated a sustainable development goal wall at the school. Grandi, together with students of Daag School, painted SDG messages on one of the walls of the school, dedicated to promote education.
In his speech, he requested Pakistani authorities to deal patiently with the hosting Afghan refugees.
“We have to be strategically patient while encouraging refugees to go back to Afghanistan.”
He informed that Afghan refugees were among the three or four largest displaced population in the World. Unfortunately, in the recent years they have not been given the time and international attention and consequently the resources required for them.
The high commissioner appreciated KP government for allowing access to refugee children in public schools. “Despite this international commitment, education for refugees remains widely under-supported and underfunded. Under-investment in refugee education results in continued low enrolment rates, gender disparity and low quality of education,” he was of the view.
Filippo Grandi urged the international community to invest more in youth empowerment and education while the current emergencies have increased global concern about the additional risks faced by children who do not have access to educational opportunities.
Grandi noted that refugee hosting countries need additional support for education. “Emphasis on education particularly becomes vital at a time when children below the age of 18 constitute 51 per cent of the total 65.3 million globally displaced people,” he added. The UNHCR chief said, “Investment in Pakistani and Afghan youth equals to investment in resilience, empowerment, stability and future of both countries.” Grandi added.
On the occasion, Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees (CCAR) Dr Imran Zeb also spoke on the occasion.
Provincial Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Atif Khan said that KP government was providing education to the children of Afghan refugees without any discrimination.
The minister said, due to recent terrorism, education sector particularly female education was badly affected and ratio of school-going girl students was reduced to great extent. However, due to the efforts of present government this ratio has been increased, he added. He said that focus on female education was must for bright future of the nation.
He discussed matters pertaining to the Afghan refugees in the province and situation in the region.
The matters related to the support and close collaboration of UNHCR in support of refugee operations and the facilitation of the return of Temporary Displaced Persons (TDPs) also came under discussion.
The governor said that 70 per cent TDPs of tribal areas have been repatriated, adding that all the displaced persons from FATA would be sent back to their homes by the end of this year.