Pakistan Hails UN Plan to Send Back 1.5 Million Afghan RefugeesThe Pakistani Minister for Kashmir Affairs Abbas Sarfraz Saturday hailed the plan of the United Nations to send as many as 1.5 million displaced Afghans back home.In a statement issued, Abbas said the UN's proposed move would help relieve the sufferings of the Afghan refugees as well as the heavy economic burden on the side of Pakistan. The minister called on the international community to provide sustained assistance on humanitarian ground for the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged Afghanistan and for the removal of Afghan people's misery. It was reported that the United Nations Refugee Agency announced in Washington on Thursday it hopes to send some 1.5 million Afghan people seeking shelters in Pakistan back to their home. Pakistan which has been hosting over two million Afghan refugees for the last 20 years is facing a new influx as thousands of Afghans have fled their homeland to escape consistent war and drought. The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator early this month observed that a colossal human tragedy was unfolding in Afghanistan and urged international donors to provide US$250 million to avert further death and displacement in that country. |
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