RECORDER REPORT

PESHAWAR: Members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have called for adopting a policy on the repatriation of Afghan refugees in an honourable manner.

The Provincial Assembly Friday held a detail debate on the issue of the repatriation of Afghan refugees and situated created in wake of it.

After the conclusion of the debate, the Speaker, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Asad Qaiser Friday announced the convening of a meeting of parliamentary leaders and government officials to prepare strategy to handle the issue of the repatriation of Afghan refugees in better manner.

All parliamentary leaders, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and a retired civil servant and former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand will be invited to the meeting to resolve the issue amicably.

The Speaker in his ruling said that the matter is related to bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries, therefore it should be looked into seriously and a frame a long-term policy in this regard.

Unveiling the stance of the provincial government, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE), Shah Farman said that Afghan refugees were migrated to Pakistan under compulsion and we given refugee on humanitarian grounds. He said that the provincial government will not throw them out of the country. However, he urged the international donor agencies to take steps for guaranteeing their rehabilitation.