Amid the looming civil war situation in Afghanistan, a senior US State Department official has said that it is important that Pakistan keeps its borders open for refugees. Islamabad has so far not spelt its strategy to deal with the refugee crisis.

“So, in a place like Pakistan, it’ll be important that their borders remain open,” a senior State Department official was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper while briefing journalists on the new US refugee admission program for Afghan nationals.

“Obviously, if people go north or if they go via Iran to Turkey …(they) have an opportunity both to enter the country as well as to register with either the government or with UNHCR,” the official said.

The US has recently tweaked the Special Immigration Visa (SIV) for Afghans seeking US long-term visas out of security concerns. Earlier, the interpreters, and their families, who had worked with the US military in Afghanistan were allowed in the plan which has now been extended to those Afghans who had worked with US NGOs.

The US State Department had also asked Turkey to allow Afghans to stay in the country for up to 14 months before they are resettled in the United States.

Pakistan National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf earlier this week said arrangements should be made to keep displaced Afghans inside their country instead of pushing them into Pakistan.

“Why make them dar-ba-dar (homeless)? Make arrangements for them inside their country. Pakistan does not have the capacity to take more refugees,” Moeed said. Pakistan already hosts over 2 million Afghan refugees.

The Turkish government had also criticized the US plan to use third countries to resettle Afghans, saying the move would cause a “great migration crisis” in the region.