Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan says Afghan refugees can now “participate in the formal economy of the country”, ordering instructions to let registered Afghan refugees open bank accounts, local media reported.
“I have issued instructions today that Afghan refugees who are registered can open bank accounts and from now onwards they can participate in the formal economy of the country,” the Pakistani prime Minister tweeted on Monday.
I have issued instructions today that Afghan refugees who are registered can open bank accounts and from now onwards they can participate in the formal economy of the country . This should have been done a long time ago.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 25, 2019
Khan exclaimed that the decision should have been made “a long time ago”.
It comes after PM Khan announced last year that all Pakistan-born refugees of Afghan and Bangladeshi origins will be granted nationality.
However, after a widespread backlash from Pakistani politicians, he said no decision had been made on the announcement; he raised the topic “just to initiate a debate”.
About 2.7 million Afghan refugees stay in Pakistan, where the first wave of Afghan refugees to Pakistan began during the Soviet–Afghan War in the late 1970s. By the end of 2001, there were over four million. Most have returned to Afghanistan since 2002.
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