ISLAMABAD, Feb. 18-- Admitting international support to Afghan refugees is getting thinner, a senior official from the United Nations' refugee agency said Tuesday that the Refugee Summit Islamabad held here on Feb. 17-18 will evoke more investment for the displaced population. Indrika Ratwatte, director of regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Xinhua on the sidelines of the international refugee conference that host countries like Pakistan and Iran need continuous support from international donors to make lives of the Afghan refugees easier. Apart from the conventional donor organizations, the conference may also succeed in engaging non-traditional partners to come in for the support of the refugees, he said. "To be fair for Pakistan, they have many challenges of their own development. So when refugee children would have access to school, there must be additional support for the schools. This is something that's strongly encouraging and requiring donors to come in," said Ratwatte. Currently, the UNHCR is implementing a dignified repatriation of the Afghan refugees back to their homeland. He said the UN agency planned to enable the Afghan government to create conditions that would enable refugees to voluntarily repatriate and reintegrate sustainably in Afghanistan. The UNHCR will "ask the international community to support that effort by supporting Afghanistan in making those investments in the priority areas, which we have identified together with the Afghan government. This could be access to basic health, basic education, livelihoods, these are the things that refugees want to see back home." |