Pakistan Acknowledges Jan Egeland’s Efforts in Highlighting Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis

Islamabad, January 21, 2025 – The Foreign Office has expressed appreciation for Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, for drawing attention to the humanitarian challenges faced by Afghanistan.

In an official statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson emphasized that the global community should not have abandoned the Afghan people after the war. Ensuring stable socioeconomic conditions within the country would have allowed Afghanistan to move toward a more prosperous future.

For the past forty years, Pakistan has provided shelter to more than four million Afghan refugees. Those who were repatriated lacked proper documentation or legal residency status. Meanwhile, the process of resettling Afghan nationals in Western countries, as promised, has been progressing at an extremely slow pace.

The spokesperson further highlighted that humanitarian aid to Afghanistan remains significantly underfunded, with only 37.5 percent of the required financial assistance secured by the United Nations last year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share deep-rooted historical, cultural, and religious ties that go beyond political boundaries. Pakistan has always supported initiatives aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and remains committed to playing a role in ensuring long-term peace and stability in the region.