KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday demanded the federal government set up camps in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and former tribal areas to deal with a potential fresh influx of refugees from Afghanistan given the uncertainty in the war-battered country following the withdrawal of US forces.
Minister for Agriculture and Supply and Prices Muhammad Ismail Rahoo also asked the Centre to seal the border with Afghanistan due to a situation akin to a civil war in that country.
He further said that lest the exodus of refugees becomes inevitable, they be accommodated in camps set up just close to the Afghanistan border. “Sindh, particularly Karachi, is already grappling with the issue of overpopulation,” he said, adding: “That’s why the provincial capital is facing the issues of unemployment, lawlessness, load shedding and water shortage.”
“We in Sindh cannot afford to host millions of refugees once again since the refugees who had migrated to Pakistan during the Zia regime are still here,” he pointed out.
About 2.5 million Afghans, many of whom fled their homeland after it was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979, live in Pakistan, home to the world’s second-largest refugee population.
In addition, the provincial government is already facing financial strain due to the non-provision of funds by the federal government. “And we are not in a position to sustain more [financial] pressure,” he said.
