ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said Monday that Pakistan has so far not given the status of refugee to a single person from Afghanistan.
“I can confirm as your [the] interior minister that we have not given the status of a refugee to even a single person,” he shared during a news conference, a day before the US and other foreign troops complete their pullout from the war-ravaged country.
The interior minister’s comments came as thousands of Afghans have sought to leave the country since the Taliban took control of the country last month. The US had also requested Pakistan to provide transit facilities after which Islamabad made arrangements at the city’s hotels.
Rasheed clarified that people from Afghanistan arrive in Pakistan via the Chaman border on a daily basis and then go back to their country, adding that this was “a normal activity.”