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Pakistan to allow in 10,000 ailing Afghan refugees

Pakistan has permitted 10,000 Afghan refugees who are in dire need of medical care to enter the country, Online news agency reports.

"We have been allowing entry of such people on humanitarian grounds and will continue the goodwill gesture. Within the next 24 hours we will receive some 10,000 Afghans for medical care," a top government official said on Thursday.

"Until now, there have been more than 50,000 such entries. Besides, over 200,000 have entered illegally," the official added.

"We have closed the border for entries but will continue to host people for medical treatment. In Afghanistan, there are no medical facilities and we have all the interest in the world to help the affected people," he said.

He said the United Nations and United States have assured financial assistance for the war-affected people of Afghanistan.

"They have provided some relief and we expect more funds soon," he maintained.

He claimed that Britain has also pledged to provide political asylum to as many as 100,000 Afghan displaced people within the next few months. "The British premier has pledged that he would talk to other neighbouring countries so that Pakistan is not heavily affected by the refugees' influx," he said.

Some one million Afghan refugees are expected to cross into Pakistan in case the US launches a ground offensive in Afghanistan.

Though Pakistan has closed its border with Afghanistan, around 200,000 Afghan refugees are believed to have entered Pakistan illegally from various unguarded points.

The authorities have, since September 12, arrested and sent back some 6,000-7,000 refugees.

Indo-Asian News Service

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