KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani has alleged Pakistan is using the issue of Afghan refugees as pressure tool against Afghanistan.
According to a senior government official, as many as 6,500 refugees return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran on a daily basis and the numbers may exceed one million at the end of the year.
President Ghani met administrative officials and heads of different commissions of both houses of parliament at the Presidential Palace, a statement from the Palace said.
The president said his government was trying to utilise all resources available for facilitation of refugees and to involve them in government’s future development programmes.
He said the government was being pressurised over the refugees dilemma and there was possibility that some refugees from European countries might return back.
He said they had tasked a team with holding effective talks with European countries in line with international laws regarding refugees and creating the ground for mutual cooperation over refugees’ issue.
“Pakistan tried to use the refugees issue to pressurise us, but they (refugees) were the people of Afghanistan and their honorable return was government responsibility,” Ghani said.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, who was present on the occasion, said the government was committed to providing all facilities to refugees on its disposal.
Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi thanked the president for involving parliamentarians in issues of national interest and said the issue of refugees should be discussed with foreign partners looking at the country’s current circumstances.
He asked heads of the authorities concerned who were present at the meeting to brief lawmakers on the refugees’ issue.  (Pajhwok)