ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (NNN-APP) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, urged the world community to perform responsibilities with a renewed commitment, taking more actions to help Afghan refugees.
Addressing an international conference marking the 40-year presence of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Guterres lauded measures Pakistan takes for Afghan refugees, in terms of information registration, education and healthcare.
“On every visit here, I have been struck by the extraordinary resilience, exceptional generosity and overwhelming compassion. I saw solidarity not just in words, but in deeds,” he said.
“We must recognise that international support for Pakistan has been minimal, compared to your own national efforts,” said Guterres, adding, considering the challenges ahead, the global community must step up.
During the event, Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, said, despite economic challenges, Pakistan has been hosting Afghan refugees for 40 years and throughout the period provided the best possible care to them.
The people of Afghanistan suffered more than anybody in the world did, in recent history, and it is the responsibility of the world to share the burden with Pakistan, Khan said, adding that, more global efforts should be made actively to help Afghan refugees on humanitarian grounds, to facilitate them to get jobs and other facilities leading to prosperity.
The prime minister said, Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan, so that refugees can go back smoothly and play their role in the development of their homeland. “We are doing everything and shall keep doing everything for peace in Afghanistan.”
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, at the conference highlighted Afghan peace process status, saying that, he is cautiously confident that progress has been made in the process to end the terrible war.
“There are some issues, especially related to trust on the way to reach a peace agreement. There is a need for compromise from all stakeholders,” said Khalilzad.– NNN-APP
