Peshawar (TDI): Afghan consul general in Peshawar Hafiz Muhibullah Shakir said on Wednesday that the interim government in Kabul was prepared to “take care” of Afghan refugees on return from Pakistan.
He said that a high-level delegation of the interim Afghan government would soon visit Pakistan to discuss mechanisms for the repatriation of Afghan refugees.
“The refugees are worried that after living here in Pakistan for 45 years, they fear facing problems in Afghanistan, but let me assure them that won’t happen,” Shakir told a media conference at the Afghan consulate here.
He said the interim Afghan government would take care of refugees on returning to the home country.
He said a commission, consisting of twelve committees with members from almost all departments, had been formed to address problems related to the repatriation of Afghan citizens from Pakistan.
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“The refugees would have faced issues only had there been Russians or Americans in power in Afghanistan, but this won’t happen as it’s Afghans in power there. The journey has started. There is peace, and there is no problem,” he said, adding that the Afghans will rebuild their country together.
The Afghan consul general said the refugees, who lacked accommodation across the border, would be accommodated in camps established for them.
He said besides Afghan authorities, philanthropists had also come forward and announced building houses and helping the returning Afghan citizens in managing businesses.
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When asked about those Afghan citizens, who had lived for decades in Pakistan and established businesses besides owned properties, Shakir said that the delegation visiting Islamabad would hold discussions on how to address those issues.
He added that the first phase of the repatriation of Afghan nationals from Pakistan was always difficult but it had started and the problems would be resolved.
Although the first phase of repatriation of unregistered Afghan citizens started in September 2023, a second phase was also launched on April 1 when the deadline for repatriation of ‘registered’ Afghan refugees expired on March 31.
According to official documents, 509,267 Afghan citizens, including 22,148 Afghan citizen cardholders, returned since September 2023, while repatriation of both ACC holders and illegal Afghan citizens is still under way.
