Pakistani media reported today (Thursday) that the US demand for more Pakistan to host Afghan refugees will increase tensions in the already strained relations between the two countries.
Pakistani political and military officials have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of the situation in recent months, as the crisis in Afghanistan has escalated amid a US military withdrawal. Will be outside the borders.
However, the State Department has demanded that Pakistan keep its borders open to Afghan refugees, a move that Pakistani political observers say is a disagreement between the two countries over Afghanistan and Washington ignores Islamabad’s concerns.
“It is important that a country like Pakistan keeps its borders open to Afghan refugees,” a senior US State Department official told reporters during a briefing on the new US refugee program, according to the Dawn website.
In recent days, Washington has announced a new program to attract asylum seekers from Afghanistan, which includes people working on US-sponsored projects or working in the US-based media or NGOs.
Pakistani national security adviser Maid Yusuf told a news conference during a visit to Washington last week that arrangements should be made to repatriate Afghan refugees inside Pakistan instead of bringing them inside.
Emphasizing Pakistan’s unwillingness to accept more asylum seekers, he said: “Why should they (wander)?” They must be organized inside Afghanistan, because Pakistan does not have the capacity to accept more refugees.
The Turkish government has also criticized the US plan to use third countries to resettle Afghans, saying it would cause a “major migration crisis” in the region.
