Pakistan says no 'refugee crisis' on Afghanistan border, only 400 people registered as refugees

KARACHI: Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Saturday there was no “refugee crisis” on his country’s border with Afghanistan at present, though he warned that prolonged instability in the neighboring country could lead to another influx of people.
Officials in Pakistan warned of a new wave of refugees after the United States announced to withdraw international forces from Afghanistan earlier this year.
The administration in Islamabad urged the world community to nudge the warring Afghan factions to sit together and try to reach an inclusive political settlement to prevent another exodus from the war-torn country.
The United Nations has already said it is bracing for the “worst-case scenario” by preparing for another 500,000 refugees in the region.
“Right now, there is no refugee crisis at the border,” Hussain said while addressing a news conference in Karachi. “About 400 people have registered themselves as refugee at the Chaman border … but we fear that more people will start pouring in if the instability continues [in Afghanistan] for a longer period. We are setting up camps in the border region.”
Asked about the details of the registered refugees, he said: “They are small children and helpless women. Every human being has a duty to help them … We will help them, but it will not be like 1979” when Pakistan decided to host millions of Afghans after the Soviet invasion.
The information minister also urged the international community not to isolate Afghanistan, adding his country would continue to play its role to ensure political stability in the neighboring state.
“We will provide full support to Afghanistan,” he said while responding to a question regarding any possible request for help from the Taliban in the aviation field.
“There is no doubt that we want to play our role for a stable Afghanistan, and Afghanistan can become stable only if its institutions remain functional,” he continued.
Hussain said the international community should not disregard the massive political void in Afghanistan since that could “endanger the whole world.”
He said that his country had evacuated more than 4,400 people, including foreigners and Afghan nationals, from the war-battered state and 2,000 of them were transported to Islamabad by Pakistan’s official air carrier.
In response to a question, the information minister reiterated the previous Afghan regime had tried to destabilize Pakistan, adding that the anti-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban militant faction had no future anymore.