Pakistan tells UN refugee agency it will continue Afghan aid

A woman carries free aid over her shoulders distributed during the Holy month of Ramadan in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, on May 3, 2020. (AFP/File)

• A senior minister says the government has sent trucks carrying food for Afghans to help prevent a humanitarian crisis in the neighboring state
• Pakistan has already communicated to the world community it cannot host more refugees due to its financial constraints

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister has assured the UN refugee agency that his country will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghan people.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told visiting UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Thursday that no new Afghan refugees had entered Pakistan since the Taliban took control in neighboring Afghanistan last month.
According to a government statement, Ahmed said Pakistan has sent trucks carrying food for the Afghan people to help try to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. It said Grandi thanked Pakistan for hosting 3 million Afghan refugees in recent decades.
Since the Taliban toppled Afghanistan’s US-backed government Aug. 15, Pakistan has urged the world community to speed up efforts to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Pakistan says it cannot host any more Afghan refugees for several reasons, including financial constraints.