KP police won’t harass Afghan refugees: Imran

KABUL (Pajhwok):  Pakistani politician Imran Khan has assured the Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad that police would no longer harass Afghan refugees in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

The assurance comes after the International Organisation for Migration attack on a school in Peshawar in December.

More than 22,000 undocumented Afghans flocked across the border at Torkham in January, more than twice the figure for the whole of 2014, said Richard Danzinger, the IOM’s mission chief in Afghanistan. Almost 1,500 others were deported in the same month, double the number of deportees in December.

Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad Janan Musazai held a meeting with Imran Khan and KP Chief Minister Parvaiz Khattak and discussed with them the intensified deportation and detention of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Other members of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party led by Imran Khan attended the meeting, a statement from the Afghan Embassy said.

The meeting also conferred on relations between the two countries, particularly between Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI rules.

The statement said Janan Musazai thanked the Pakistani government and people for hosting Afghan refugees for the last more than three decades.

Imran Khan assured Musazai that they would continue assisting and cooperating with their Afghan brethrens and said KP police would no more harass Afghan refugees.

The meeting comes after a marked progress in bilateral ties which previously often remained tense between the neighbours.

Musazai also discussed other issues of mutual interest with the (PTI) chief, including terrorism. Khan assured Afghan refugees would not be harassed and be treated in accordance with the country’s laws. 

He directed the KP government to make sure that Afghan refugees were treated in accordance with the law. He also directed the government to make arrangements for return of Afghan refugees.

According to a press statement issued by the PTI, Khan and Afghan envoy discussed a joint forum on trade, health.

The meeting decided a committee also involving officials of the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar would be set up to investigate problems being faced by Afghan refugees.

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