UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi on Sunday met Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in Peshawar as he began a three-day visit that will focus on the problems of Afghan refugees, a UNHCR spokesperson said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), met delegations of Afghan refugees who apprised him about their problems in Pakistan.
“The UNHCR chief assured Afghan refugees that he would discuss with Pakistani officials about all issues of the refugees,” the spokesperson said. The Afghan delegation comprised registered refugees and those who arrived in Pakistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
The UNHCR chief also met Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Amir Muqam in Peshawar in Peshawar, the minister’s office in Islamabad said. “Pakistan has been hosting Afghan refugees for 40 years despite serious economic difficulties,” an official statement quoted the SAFRON minister as telling Grandi.
This is the first visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees chief to Pakistan after the country announced a repatriation plan for “illegal foreigners” in October last year.
