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Mr. Chairman,
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees' report and his address today in the morning gives us a disturbing picture of the global refugee and dis-placement situation.
The number of refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers has crossed 50 million, the highest since World War II. This is an alarming trend. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa have spawned new waves of refugees and IDPs. Millions have fled their villages and towns in Syria, Iraq and Sub-Saharan Africa. Millions more are living in dangerous and difficult- to-access locations, all in urgent need of critical humanitarian assistance.
The dramatic increase in the number of refugee children, who now constitute more than half of the total refugee population, is equally distressing. Children in refugee settings suffer from lack of proper nutrition and education; and are exposed to child labour, abuse and exploitation. Protection of refugee children should remain the core priority of the United Nations and the UNHCR.
Incidents of sexual violence against refugee women and children have also increased. Hundreds of desperate asylum seekers are losing their lives while trying to cross open seas in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels. In this regard, we support High Commissioner Guterres' call to the European Union to grant legal entry to more Syrian refugees who are risking their lives to reach Europe illegally by sea.
The unprecedented increase in refugee and IDP populations has touched the limits of global humanitarian response capacity, necessitating innovative but sustainable strategies to address new refugee movements and internal displacements, as well as to find durable solutions to the nearly forgotten but protracted refugee situations.
Mr. Chairman,
The stark fact is that more than half of the world's refugees live in protracted situations in different parts of the world.
Pakistan continues to host the largest protracted refugee population globally comprising more than three million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees. For more than three decades, the government and the people of Pakistan have provided shelter and assistance to these refugees who are settled throughout Pakistan, predominantly in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces. The economies and social fabrics of the two provinces bordering Afghanistan have come under severe strain because of the presence of the refugees.
Pakistan is now witnessing the birth of the third generation of Afghan refugees. Regrettably, the international support to refugees in Pakistan has been dwindling, which saw another significant decrease this year. Despite its own resource constraints, Pakistan has continued to provide the necessary services. Refugee camps are located on government-owned land. Refugees have access to public health facilities; and children to public schools.
Our resources have been stretched by massive relief efforts following recent floods and temporary relocation of the hundreds of thousands of people because of the ongoing anti-terrorist operation - Zarb-i-Azb.
In view of the uncertain and difficult situation inside Afghanistan, Pakistan signed another agreement with the Government of Afghanistan and the UNHCR to extend the stay of Afghan refugees till December 2015. After that, Pakistan would very much want these refugees to return peacefully to Afghanistan with the support of the international community.
Mr. Chairman,
We congratulate the people of Afghanistan on the election of its leadership. We welcome the new government's announcement that return of the refugees is high on its agenda. Pakistan is planning to send its representatives to Kabul soon to discuss modalities for repatriation and rehabilitation of refugees. We want these refugees to return to their homeland voluntarily and with honour and dignity.
Pakistan needs adequate international support to close the chapter on the largest refugee caseload in one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world.
We also call upon the UNHCR and the international community to help the people and Government of Afghanistan to take serious steps to create the pull factor and a conducive environment in their country for the return of the refugees. This, according to the UNHCR, would depend on the sustainability of reintegration and salutary developments during the transition period.
Inside Afghanistan, the international community must help the Afghan Government to mitigate displacement and the UNHCR to enhance its contingency humanitarian response capacity to stem fresh outflows of refugees for which the risk is quite high. In this context, it is equally important to increase humanitarian support in the sub-region surrounding Afghanistan, especially Pakistan, to find lasting refugee solutions.
Recent international conferences have secured pledges of billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. These pledges must also factor in the repatriation and rehabilitation of the returning refugees.
I thank you.