Islamabad
Afghan nationals living in India have demanded of the Indian government to grant them the status of refugees.
A report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, said that hundreds of Afghans living in India took to the streets recently to ramp up the demand for refugee status.
They rallied outside the UN refugee agency’s office in New Delhi, chanting slogans and demanding security, especially for Afghan children and women.
“We were victims of war, and now we are the victims of an unclear future,” read one poster. Most of the Afghans protesting outside the UN office said they fled to India more than 10 years ago but are still waiting to be recognized as refugees.
Many get trapped within a complex bureaucratic process to register as refugees in India, and struggle to live a dignified life, they said.
India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. As per the UN refugee agency, till 2019, Afghans accounted for about a third of the nearly 40,000 refugees registered in India but this figure excludes those not registered with the UN.—INP
