PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan has been supporting and will continue to back efforts for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and bringing peace and stability to the country.
Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan praised Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary-General Jan Egeland, for highlighting Afghanistan’s humanitarian predicament.
Jan Egeland warned the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was being overlooked by the international community, with 22 million people in need of aid.
During a visit to Afghanistan, Egeland highlighted the dire situation faced by Afghan families, particularly women. “Here in Herat, I met women who had been deported without their husbands back to deep poverty and hopelessness.”
The FO spokesman commented it would have been more appropriate if the world had not abandoned the Afghan people after the war and if conducive socioeconomic conditions had been created inside the country for the Afghan people.
For forty years, he said: “Pakistan has generously hosted over four million Afghan refugees. Those sent back were residing illegally.”
Progress on the cases of thousands of Afghan nationals, who were promised resettlement in western countries, remained painfully slow, he noted.
According to media reports, Pakistan has also expelled Afghan citizens who held legal documents.
The UN says humanitarian aid to Afghanistan remains critically underfunded with only 37.5% of the required funds secured last year.
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