Afghanistan Refugees
Refugee influx from Afghanistan: Pakistan may follow 'Iranian model' if situation arises
Islamabad: Pakistan may follow the ‘Iranian model’ if the country witnesses a refugee influx following the exit of US troops from Afghanistan and continuous territorial gains by Taliban groups, media reports said.
According to reports, Islamabad is not in favour of opening the border this time.
“We have decided not to open our border for refugees; the aid agencies can help the needy on the other side too,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Dawn.
“But, if the situation deteriorates, we will establish settlements along the border with strict control and monitoring, prohibiting the entry of refugees into the mainland,” he went on to say.
“The government would even follow the Iranian model to contain refugees in these camps and manage them effectively,” he added.
According to a report of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), there were around 800,000 Afghan refugees in Iran, but they were all living in refugee villages set up by Tehran along the border areas with Afghanistan in the 1980s and prevented from settling in cities and towns, reports Dawn News.
Talking to Dawn, officials from various provinces and even Gilgit-Baltistan showed their concern over the arrival of Afghans in their areas, but declined to be named.
“Our most serious fear is that the Afghans might add to the strength of sectarian terrorists, who had been subdued by the army,” an elected representative in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly said.
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