ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said while addressing the National Assembly on Friday that we need to decide the fate of refugees as it is a matter of human rights issue and they are living as non-citizens in Pakistan.
“Under 1951 laws a person who is born in Pakistan is eligible to be offered a citizenship. We should deal with them on humanitarian grounds,” the prime minister said while responding to the points of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) Chief Akhtar Mengal regarding the status of Afghan refugees and Bengalis.
The prime minister said that his party has signed an agreement with BNP-Mengal for the return of these refugees. However, he added that under the international convention the refugees cannot be forced to go back to their homeland.
Imran Khan said that Pakistan is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for voluntary repatriation of Afghan Refugees to their homeland.
The prime minister pointed out that Bengali families have been living in Karachi over the last 50 years. He said that the policy regarding the settlement of Bengali families will be taken after taking inputs from the Parliamentarians.
In addition, he said that we have to frame a policy for the families who are now settled in Pakistan as it is the matter of human rights and humanity. He said that other countries are also following the same principle.
