Moved by Pakistan's decision to continue providing refuge to the 1.7 million Afghan refugees living here despite the devastating floods, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres on Thursday said: “It is high time the international community matched the hospitality shown by Pakistan and provides adequate financial support to Pakistan.”
Speaking to mediapersons after a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas, Mr. Guterres said UNHCR was grateful to Pakistan for not using the floods as a pretext to push out the Afghan refugees who constitute the largest refugee population in any country.
His tour of Pakistan coincided with the visit of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who concluded his two-day trip on Thursday after reaching an agreement to deepen bilateral engagement on not just security issues but also trade, commerce and infrastructural development.
During his visit, Mr. Karzai gave Pakistan one million dollars towards flood relief in addition to the assistance that has already been provided by Afghanistan by way of helicopters and medicines. A joint statement issued after delegation level talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari late on Wednesday night said the two sides agreed to strengthen mechanisms for security cooperation, enhance bilateral trade to more than $5 billion by 2015, and undertake three projects — Peshawar-Jalalabad rail link, Quetta-Kandahar rail link and building modern facilities at Landi Kotal-Torkhem and Chaman-Spinboldak — on a priority basis.
While there was no reference to Afghan refugees in statements put out by both sides, Mr. Guterres said the situation in Afghanistan was not yet conducive for their return. As per UNHCR records, 68,000 of the 1.7 million Afghan refugees had been rendered homeless by the floods but despite the hardship they were reluctant to return as they come from some of the most insecure areas of Afghanistan.
Time and again citing Pakistan's hospitality towards the Afghan refugees as a good enough reason for the world to help Pakistan in its hour of crisis, Mr. Guterres said: “The international community has a vested interest in the stability of this country.” And, he added for good measure that the amount needed to help Pakistan back on its feet was modest compared to the bailout packages given to banks.
