Pakistan Gives Afghan Refugees Another 60 Days

AVA-The Federal Cabinet of Pakistan on Wednesday approved an extension of stay for 60 days for Afghan refugees, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

This comes after the previous extension expired on Tuesday.

The Federal Cabinet of Pakistan held a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, on Wednesday and approved the extension of the grant for 60-days for Afghan refugees.

“The cabinet approved a grant of 60 days extension in the Proof of Registration (POR) cards for Afghan refugees,” said a statement issued by Abbasi.

The report said that the extension would be extended to 114 districts in various parts of the country including Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, South Punjab.

Under a trilateral agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Nations, Pakistan has issued the PoR cards to Afghan refugees who are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Express Tribune of Pakistan repoted.

The PoR cards allow these refugees to live in Pakistan for a fixed time period set by the federal government, take up jobs and even purchase property, it said.

On December 31, 2017, the related extension given by the federal government on registered Afghan refugees’ stay in Pakistan expired following a previous 30-day extension, which came into effect from January 1 and expired on Tuesday.

Official sources said the Afghan side wanted Afghan refugees’ stay to be extended until at least the end of this year but the Pakistan government would not entertain this request.

The proposal to extend the refugees stay until June 30 also remained under consideration but following the input of security agencies, the cabinet approved a 60-day extension effective from January 31 till March 31.

Pakistan is home to at least 1.38 million registered Afghan refugees, according to the UNHCR. There are at least another million refugees estimated to be outside the formal refugee registration system.