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UN Sec. Gen. to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday 16th Feb.

ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary General António Guterres will pay a four-day visit to Pakistan commencing from Sunday 16th of February, 2020.

He is scheduled to address a conference regarding Afghan refugees’ presence in Pakistan.

According to details Pakistan and UN Refugee Agency will be holding a two-day conference  40 years of Afghan Refugees Presence in Pakistan: A New Partnership for Solidarity here on 17th and 18th of February that will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.  

The Secretary-General will call on President Dr. Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan. A rendezvous with Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi is also on the cards.

UN Secretary General António Guterres will meet parliamentarians, members of Media and the youth of this country. Special talks on themes of sustainable development, climate change and peacekeeping will be delivered by him.

António Guterres will pay a visit to Lahore and travel to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Saheb.

Relevant pieces published earlier:

Pakistan urges world to contribute in repatriation of Afghan refugees

April 29, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Shehryar Khan Afridi urged the global community to play its due role in the process of repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland.

Addressing a briefing at the ministry of SAFRON, he said “it is an irony that Pakistan has been hosting around four million Afghan refugees for the past four decades but the world is not ready to share its burden.”

The minister said despite the recent financial crisis, Pakistan is putting up efforts to facilitate Afghan refugees.

In this regard, the government is working on ‘Refugee Policy’ which would be unveiled soon, he shared.

Afridi vowed during his speech that he would work with all organizations to help repatriate the Afghan refugees.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry of SAFRON would also play a proactive role in merger of tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and all pertaining issues would be addressed.

Earlier in February, Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued directives for the opening of bank accounts of the Afghan refugees, who are registered in the country.

Over 92,600 Afghan refugees return home in 2019: UN

KABUL: Over 92,600 Afghan refugees have returned from neighbors Pakistan and Iran since January, United Nations migration agency International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday.

“About 92,698 Afghans returns from Iran and Pakistan since 01 January 2019,” said IOM in a statement.

A total of 88,516 Afghans have reportedly returned their homeland from Iran as the value of local currency had fallen and job opportunities are low.

Meanwhile, 4,182 Afghans have come back home from Pakistan during the period, said the statement.

“The above update is based on 64,186 interviews from 390 out of 399 districts in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan,” the statement said.

More than 849,000 Afghan refugees had returned or been deported to Afghanistan in 2018 mainly from neighbor countries, according to figures from Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations.

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M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.