You are here

  • Home
  • Pakistan PM urges world to be mindful of security threats country faces in hosting refugees

Pakistan PM urges world to be mindful of security threats country faces in hosting refugees

Pakistan PM urges world to be mindful of security threats country faces in hosting refugees
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, calls on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on July 9, 2024. (Government of Pakistan)
Short Url

https://arab.news/pmj62

Updated 09 July 2024
Follow

Pakistan PM urges world to be mindful of security threats country faces in hosting refugees

Pakistan PM urges world to be mindful of security threats country faces in hosting refugees
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif meets UN high commissioner for refugees to discuss deportation of Afghan refugees
  • Pakistan last year kicked off deportation drive targeting undocumented migrants after surge in suicide attacks
Updated 09 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan
Follow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday urged the international community to be mindful of security threats and socio-economic challenges that Pakistan faces in hosting a “large” Afghan refugee population, a statement from the premier’s office said as he met United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Islamabad. 

Millions of Afghans fled their homeland over the past four decades to escape war and poverty, most settling in Pakistan or Iran. Pakistan’s government launched a deportation drive last year against undocumented migrants, mostly Afghan refugees, after a spike in suicide bombings which the Pakistan government blamed on Afghan nationals without providing evidence. Islamabad also says Afghans are involved in smuggling, militant violence and other crimes. 

The deportation drive also took place as cash-strapped Pakistan navigated record inflation alongside a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program last year. Islamabad had also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades. State media said last month Pakistan has so far repatriated over 620,000 Afghan refugees since last year. 

Grandi is on an official visit to Pakistan from July 7-9 to meet high-ranking government officials and Afghan refugees. The UNHCR official met Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday during which both sides discussed a wide range of issues relating to the global refugee situation, with a particular focus on Afghan refugees, Pakistan’s foreign office said. 

“While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to address protection and safety needs of people in vulnerable situations, the Prime Minister underscored that the international community needed to be mindful of the socio-economic challenges and security threats being faced by Pakistan in this regard,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement. 

Sharif told Grandi that the international community needed to recognize the burden that Pakistan shoulders while hosting such a “large” refugee population, adding that it also needed to demonstrate collective responsibility in this regard. 

He sought the UNHCR’s support in mobilizing resources to host Afghan refugees and urged it to play its role in promoting durable solutions to address the situation. The Pakistani prime minister told Grandi that despite several challenges, Pakistan hosted Afghan refugees with “exemplary respect and dignity” for over four decades. 

“The UN High Commissioner expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s generosity and hospitality in hosting millions of Afghan refugees for the past many decades and assured that UNHCR would continue to work closely with Pakistan to fulfill the basic needs of the Afghan refugees,” the PMO said. 

Pakistan’s move to deport thousands of Afghan refugees has also strained its ties with the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. The Afghan government, which is struggling to deal with an influx of its citizens returning from Pakistan, has urged Islamabad to treat Afghan nationals respectfully.

Topics: Pakistan PM security threats

Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’

Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’
Updated 22 July 2024
Follow

Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’

Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’
  • Israeli tanks rolled back into the greater Khan Younis area after Israel ordered evacuations of some districts it said were being used by militants
  • Israeli tank salvoes killed 49 Palestinians in the town of Bani Suhaila and others fringing eastern Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded by air
Updated 22 July 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday condemned fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza’s Khan Younis area that killed 49 Palestinians, describing it as a “mockery of humanity.”
Israeli tanks rolled back into the greater Khan Younis area after Israel ordered evacuations of some districts it said had been used for renewed attacks by militants.
The Palestinians were killed by tank salvoes in the town of Bani Suhaila and others fringing the eastern side of Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded by air, residents said.
“Such an aggressive attack within minutes of instructions given to Khan Younis refugees to evacuate is a mockery of humanity,” Sharif said in a statement. “The unarmed Palestinian refugees were not even given a chance to evacuate.”
The Gaza health ministry said the dead included several women and children and that at least 186 other people had been injured by Israeli fire.
Around 400,000 people are living in the targeted areas and dozens of families have begun to leave their houses, Palestinian officials said, adding they were not given time to get out of harm’s way before the Israeli strikes began.
The Pakistan premier said it was clear that Israeli forces were acting on “the agenda of genocide of the Palestinians.”
He reiterated Pakistan’s support for the Palestinians in their struggle for right to self-determination. “The United Nations must play its role in resolving the Palestine issue,” Sharif added.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October last year, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations and demanded international powers and multilateral bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas after militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border assault on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
The death toll among Palestinians in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then had reached at least 39,006 as of Monday, Gaza health authorities said.

Topics: Israel Gaza War on Gaza

Pakistan aims to increase revenue by 1.5 percent of GDP this year under new IMF deal — minister

Pakistan aims to increase revenue by 1.5 percent of GDP this year under new IMF deal — minister
Updated 22 July 2024
Follow

Pakistan aims to increase revenue by 1.5 percent of GDP this year under new IMF deal — minister

Pakistan aims to increase revenue by 1.5 percent of GDP this year under new IMF deal — minister
  • The statement came during Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s virtual meeting with representatives of Fitch Ratings agency
  • The discussions encompassed reforms in energy sector and state enterprises, including privatization and ‘rightsizing’ of entities
Updated 22 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said on Monday the South Asian country aimed to increase its revenue by 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product this fiscal year under a new $7 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Pakistani finance minister said this during a virtual meeting with representatives of Fitch Ratings agency, including Senior Director Thomas Rookmaker, and Directors Asia Pacific Krisjanis Krustins and Jeremy Zook.
The discussions encompassed ongoing reforms in the energy sector and state-owned enterprises, including privatization and “rightsizing” of government entities to streamline operations and improve governance, according to the finance ministry.
Aurangzeb informed the rating agency about multilateral institutions’ confidence in financing Pakistan’s projects and briefed them on the staff-level agreement reached with the IMF this month to bolster Pakistan’s homegrown economic reform agenda.
“The Federal Minister apprised the Fitch representatives of salient features of the new program which includes setting a target of increasing our revenues by 1.5 percent of GDP in FY 2025 and by 3 percent over the coming 3 years,” the finance ministry said in a statement. “A primary surplus of 1 percent of GDP will also be achieved for FY 2025.”
He provided an extensive update on Pakistan’s current economic landscape and highlighted Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had reached $9.4 billion, robust stock exchange performance, and CPI inflation recorded at 12.6 percent in June.
The minister noted a 7.7 percent rise in foreign remittances and emphasized the government’s efforts to broaden the tax base, citing a 30 percent increase in tax collection during the outgoing fiscal year as compared to previous year.
“More than 150,000 retailers have registered as first-time tax payers. The IT exports crossed the figure of USD 3 billion,” Aurangzeb was quoted as saying by his ministry.
Pakistan’s new government presented its first budget in parliament last month, setting an ambitious tax collection target. Aurangzeb said at the time Pakistan wanted to collect Rs13 trillion ($44 billion) in taxes, which would be 40 percent more than the outgoing fiscal year.
“The representatives from Fitch Ratings appreciated the ambitious targets and fiscal measures adopted by the Government of Pakistan and acknowledged the improvement in economic indicators,” the finance ministry added.

Topics: Muhammad Aurangzeb

Islamabad police raid headquarters of ex-PM Khan party, arrest official over ‘anti-state propaganda’

Islamabad police raid headquarters of ex-PM Khan party, arrest official over ‘anti-state propaganda’
Updated 22 July 2024
Follow

Islamabad police raid headquarters of ex-PM Khan party, arrest official over ‘anti-state propaganda’

Islamabad police raid headquarters of ex-PM Khan party, arrest official over ‘anti-state propaganda’
  • Videos shared online showed policemen surrounding PTI party secretariat in Islamabad, leading away Information Secretary Raoof Hasan
  • Pakistan’s interior ministry says the raid was conducted on the basis of initial investigation and analysis of the party’s digital content
Updated 22 July 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s police on Monday raided the headquarters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Islamabad and arrested a top official of the party for involvement in anti-state propaganda, the interior minister said.
PTI social media accounts shared videos of dozens of policemen surrounding the PTI secretariat in Pakistan’s federal capital of Islamabad and leading away PTI Information Secretary, Raoof Hasan.
Pakistan’s interior ministry confirmed Hasan’s arrest and said the Islamabad police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided the PTI digital media wing based on initial investigation and analysis of party’s digital content.
“The PTI is involved in anti-state propaganda,” the interior ministry said in a statement. “A JIT [joint investigation team] is being constituted [to investigate the allegations].”

Women police officers taking the arrested female workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from the party's headquarters into police van after a security raid in Islamabad on July 22, 2024. (AFP)

Authorities also briefly detained PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, who is also Khan’s lawyer, on Monday but released him later, Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, Khan’s key adviser on media, told Arab News.
The raid at PTI headquarters and the arrest of the party’s information secretary comes days after several other PTI members, including the party’s top media manager Ahmed Waqqas Janjua, were arrested by authorities.
An anti-terrorism court on Monday remanded Janjua into police custody for seven days after the investigating officer said he was found in possession of explosives during the arrest and they wanted to probe his alleged links with outlawed organizations, according to the PTI and Janjua’s lawyer.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar last week said the government planned to ban the PTI, days after the Supreme Court made a crucial ruling in the party’s favor that dealt a huge blow to the government.
Khan has been jailed for nearly a year, but this month an Islamabad judge overturned his illegal marriage conviction while the Supreme Court awarded PTI more parliamentary seats — a move set to make them the largest party in the National Assembly.

Policemen make way for prison van after a security raid at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's headquarters in Islamabad on July 22, 2024. (AFP)

Both cases were considered a major blow to the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has been leading a weak coalition since the February 8 election.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) described the attempt to ban the PTI as “an enormous blow to democratic norms” and said it “reeks of political desperation.”
“If pushed through, it will achieve nothing more than deeper polarization and the strong likelihood of political chaos and violence,” HRCP Chairman Asad Iqbal Butt said in a statement.
Khan, who says the cases against him have been orchestrated to prevent his return to power, remains languishing in jail on fresh charges of inciting protests and graft.
A United Nations panel of experts this month found that Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office.”

Topics: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Raoof Hasan Gohar Khan Ex-PM Imran Khan

Pakistan welcomes Omani investors’ visit to Islamabad this week with economic cooperation on agenda

Pakistan welcomes Omani investors’ visit to Islamabad this week with economic cooperation on agenda
Updated 22 July 2024
Follow

Pakistan welcomes Omani investors’ visit to Islamabad this week with economic cooperation on agenda

Pakistan welcomes Omani investors’ visit to Islamabad this week with economic cooperation on agenda
  • Pakistan, faced with low forex reserves, currency devaluation and high inflation, this month reached a staff-level agreement with IMF for $7 billion loan
  • The South Asian country is making desperate attempts to boost foreign investment to cut its reliance on foreign debts to support its $350 billion economy
Updated 22 July 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan welcomes the visit of a delegation of Omani investors to Islamabad this week, the Pakistani deputy prime minister said on Monday, amid the South Asian country’s push to boost trade and foreign investment.
The statement came after Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s telephonic conversation with Omani FM Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi.
The two leaders reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, ranging from political, economic and defense cooperation to people-to-people exchanges, according to the Pakistani foreign office. 
“The Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister welcomed the forthcoming visit of a delegation of Omani investors to Pakistan later this week, geared toward exploring areas of mutually beneficial economic cooperation,” the foreign office said in a statement. 
“The two leaders also shared views on a range of regional and international issues of mutual interest.”
Pakistan, which has been facing low foreign exchange reserves, currency devaluation and high inflation, this month reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $7 billion loan.
The South Asian country is making desperate attempts to boost foreign investment to cut its reliance on foreign debts to support its $350 billion fragile economy. In recent months, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Japan, Azerbaijan, Qatar and other countries.
During the conversation, Dar and his Omani counterpart also discussed an attack on Imam Bargah Ali bin Abu Talib in Wadi Kabir in Muscat that killed six people, including four Pakistanis, and injured dozens of others on July 15.
Dar emphasized the importance of concerted action to combat militancy in all its forms and manifestations and extended Pakistan’s full support to Oman in this regard, according to the Pakistan foreign office. 
He appreciated Oman’s support in repatriation of bodies of the mosque attack victims to Pakistan and taking care of the injured Pakistani nationals.

Topics: Pakistan Oman ties Pakistan Oman trade

Anti-terrorism efforts being made ‘controversial’ by ‘political mafia’ — Pakistan army 

Anti-terrorism efforts being made ‘controversial’ by ‘political mafia’ — Pakistan army 
Updated 22 July 2024
Follow

Anti-terrorism efforts being made ‘controversial’ by ‘political mafia’ — Pakistan army 

Anti-terrorism efforts being made ‘controversial’ by ‘political mafia’ — Pakistan army 
  • Government has announced launching new counterterrorism operation which has been rejected by opposition, incluidng Khan’s PTI
  • Head of army’s media wing labels anti-military narrative work of “digital terrorists” who will be dealt with through the law, regulations
Updated 22 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for the Pakistan army said on Monday anti-terrorism efforts, including a new “comprehensive” operation announced by the government, were being “politicized” to the detriment of the country’s national interests, in veiled comments against the party of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan.

Pakistan last month announced it would launch a new “multi-pronged” operation called Azm-e-Istehkam, or Resolve for Stability, that would not only eliminate militants though military and intelligence actions but also deter extremist thinking through socio-economic uplift.

The campaign has so far been rejected by opposition parties, particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former prime minister Khan, on the grounds that opposition parties and parliament were not consulted.

Pakistan has seen a massive surge in militancy in recent months, with daily attacks on security forces and assassinations of police and government officials. Islamabad blames the attacks on militants operating out of Afghanistan. Kabul denies that it allows its territory to be used by insurgents and says Pakistan’s security woes are a domestic issue.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the Azm-e-Isjtehkam operation had been “politicized” by what he described as a “political mafia.”

“Why did a mafia, a political mafia, and an illegal mafia say that they would not let this [campaign] happen?” Chaudhry said, adding that opponents of the operation had tried to make it “controversial” and paint it as a purely military operation in which thousands would be displaced. 

“Azm-e-Istehkam is a comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism campaign, not a military operation as it is being presented,” he added. “This is a comprehensive campaign against terrorism, which won’t just root out terrorism but which will lift up all of society … and the stakes are very high here.”

He said 137 officers and soldiers had been killed in anti-terror operations this year and security forces had conducted 22,409 intelligence-based operations. Together, the armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, and other law enforcement agencies were conducting more than 112 operations daily, the general said. 

Despite the army’s sacrifices, he said “digital terrorists” were using “fake news and propaganda” to spread lies about the army and its intentions. He was answering a question about the army’s decreasing popularity in Pakistan.

“This is digital terrorism,” Chaudhry said. “The physical terrorist also attacks law enforcement agencies and the army, and the digital terrorist also attacks the army. They are doing the same thing.”

“Digital terrorists,” the spokesman said, would be deterred through laws, regulation and monitoring. 

Chaudhry’s veiled comments about the PTI and Khan came days after the federal government of PM Shehbaz Sharif announced plans to ban the party and moved the country’s top court to press treason charges against Khan. 

Khan came to power in 2018 and was ousted in 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which had helped propel him into office. The army denies political interference.

Since his ouster, the PTI founder and his party have faced an ever-widening state-backed crackdown and Khan himself has been in jail since August last year. He was acquitted earlier this month in one of the last standing convictions against him but was not freed after authorities issued new orders to arrest him in another case involving riots by his followers in May last year. 

Khan, arguably the country’s most popular politician, says all legal cases are motivated to keep him out of politics and dent the popularity of the PTI. He has led an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the army and independent analysts say has succeeded in denting its popularity in a nation that has been ruled by the military for nearly half its history. 

The convictions against Khan had ruled him out of Feb. 8 general elections, which all candidates from his party were forced to contest as independents after the election commission denied the party its iconic symbol of a cricket bat on technical grounds. Despite the setbacks, Khan-backed candidates won the most seats in the polls but could not form the government, which is now being led by Sharif’s PML-N party in coalition with other parties. 

Topics: Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry dg ispr Operation Azm-e-Istehkam

Latest updates

UK warned Israel over ‘out of control’ troops in 2002: archives
UK warned Israel over ‘out of control’ troops in 2002: archives
Biden vows to ‘keep working for end to war in Gaza’
Biden vows to ‘keep working for end to war in Gaza’
US-Russian journalist convicted in a rapid, secret trial, gets 6 1/2 years in prison, court says
US-Russian journalist convicted in a rapid, secret trial, gets 6 1/2 years in prison, court says
Iraq eyes drawdown of US-led forces starting September, sources say
Iraq eyes drawdown of US-led forces starting September, sources say
Israel strikes on Yemen port: what is the damage?
Israel strikes on Yemen port: what is the damage?

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.