KABUL - The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) on Saturday welcomed the Pakistan’s fresh commitments about Afghan refugees but said Islamabad should not politicise migrants’ issues and free the Afghans recently detained allegedly in connection of terrorist attacks.
A statement from MoRR a copy of which received by Pajhwok Afghan News said Pakistan was host for millions of Afghan refugees in the recent past and around 1.3 million registered and 600,000 others unregistered Afghans were still living in the neighbor country.
However, the ministry said a number of Afghan refugees have been detained and harassed by Pakistani forces allegedly in connection to recent terrorist attacks in parts Pakistan.
A number of Afghans have been freed as result of the Afghan embassy’s efforts in Pakistan and efforts were underway to release the rest of other Afghan refugees still kept in police custody, the source said.
The ministry said Pakistan cabinet has recently extended stay of Afghan refugees with valid Proof of Registration (PoR) cards until the end of 2017 and approved the registration of unregistered refugees.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed in this regard during a trilateral meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR in Islamabad on February 15, the source added.
Based on the MoU, all the three sides should be committed to the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees and the migration should not be used as a political pressure.

The Afghan government welcomes hosting of Afghan refugees and the Pakistan’s new commitments in the regard, but Afghanistan wants Pakistan not to politicize the refugees matter and help release the Afghans detained in that country, MoRR said. (Pajhwok)