Having grappled with an Afghan refugee crisis for over four decades, Pakistan has said it would not welcome another influx of people from its landlocked neighbor which is now witnessing an escalating civil war.

In a statement from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed apprehensions that some "anti-Pakistan elements" could enter the country in the guise of refugees.

Pakistan has in the past accused Afghan refugees of contributing to increased sectarian violence, drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime. A considerable number of refugees have been arrested and jailed.

Qureshi also accused India of disturbing regional peace by playing the role of a spoiler in Afghanistan, and urged the international community to stop New Delhi from the ‘negative attitude’.

“Pakistan is the only country, which, despite its limited resources, is hosting 3 million Afghan refugees for decades, however, it cannot afford to welcome more refugees if the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates again,” he said in the statement.

“Since under the guise of Afghan refugees, some anti-Pakistan elements could enter the country,” Qureshi said, adding that it was an obligation to remain cautious. “Pakistan by sacrificing 70,000 lives and suffering huge economic losses has paid a heavy price in the war against terrorism.”

The first wave of Afghan refugees to Pakistan began during the Soviet-Afghan War in the late 1970s. By the end of 2001, there were over four million refugees.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), most have now returned to Afghanistan, but 1,435,445 remained in Pakistan as of December 2020,

Qureshi said most of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan were innocent. “Pakistan wanted to help the Afghan people on humanitarian grounds, but also wanted to ensure the safety and security of its people,” he added.

The statement warned that the neighboring countries would be affected by the Afghanistan situation where hundreds are being killed daily in violence between the government forces and the Taliban following the ongoing withdrawal of US troops stationed in the country for 20 years to fight terrorism.

Qureshi said India should “let Afghanistan live with peace” and urged the international community to prohibit it from a negative attitude.

Qureshi  is in Tajikistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO-CFM) meeting.

Eighty-five percent of Afghan refugees in Pakistan are Pashtuns, and the remaining 15 percent Uzbeks, Tajiks, and members of other ethnic groups.

Among the Pakistani provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosts the largest Afghan refugee population (62.1 percent), followed by Balochistan (20.3 percent), Punjab (11 percent), Sindh (4.2 percent), Islamabad (two percent) and Pakistan Occupied  Kashmir (0.4 percent).

(SAM)