KABUL CITY - An Afghan delegation has arrived in Islamabad to take part in a trilateral meeting on the issue of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, an official said on Monday.
Hafizullah Miakhel, spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) told Pajhwok Afghan News officials from Pakistan, UNHCR and Afghanistan would take part in the meeting.
Refugees’ Minister Syed Hussain Alami Balkhi,heading the high-level delegation, has reached Islamabad to attend the two-day meeting, scheduled for July 29-30, the spokesman said.
Miakhel added the Afghan delegation would present an action planfor the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. The stay of refugees in the neighbouring country expires at the end of 2016.
Answering a question, the official said the Afghan team would discuss the refugees’ situation in Pakistan and their arrests. Balkhi will also visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to meet representatives of the Afghan refugees.
According to a recent report, More than 8,000 undocumented Afghan citizens have been arrested in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar over the past six months.
Based on growing complaints of street crimes, robberies, target killings, mobile-snatching and car-lifting, the arrests were made during various search and strike operations by the police.
A report from the police department said a campaign had been launched against outlaws in cantonment and rural areason the directives of SeniorSuperintendent of Police Abbas Majeed Marwat.
It added 8,220 Afghan refugees without proper documentation were detained. Some of the illegal foreigners were also found to be involved in various criminal activities, the report claimed.(Pajhwok)