ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to extend the stay of nearly 16,000 Afghan citizens on humanitarian grounds, the Foreign Office said.
During the weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said that no Afghan citizen holding a legal visa or valid travel documents has been expelled from Pakistan.
He added that under the IFRP, cases of approximately 89,000 Afghan citizens are currently being processed. The spokesperson stated that the extension is being granted on humanitarian grounds to around 16,000 Afghan women, children and elderly citizens to allow them to stay in Pakistan.
Commenting on reports of an incident near border areas close to Chitral, the FO spokesperson said there was no confirmed information available. He noted that information coming from Afghanistan needs to be verified on the ground and it would not be appropriate to comment on unverified reports.
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