UN World Humanitarian Day: Pakistan urges world capitals to help halt humanitarian crisis in IOJK

ISLAMABAD: As the world commemorated the UN World Humanitarian Day, Pakistan reached out to the global community and encouraged them to uphold the principles of burden and responsibility sharing to support sustainable humanitarian responses in large refugee hosting countries.

“The protracted refugee situations continue to impact millions of lives and should be supported by the international community in every aspect”, said the Foreign Office in a statement.

For decades now ever since the Soviet Union exited from Afghanistan, millions of Afghan refugees have made Pakistan their home, at a time when there is donor fatigue and Pakistan has been mostly left alone to face this challenge. “Pakistan and its people have shown exemplary generosity, compassion and hospitality in hosting more than 3 million Afghans for over 4 decades.

We are thankful to our partners, especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for helping us in taking care of Afghan Refugees”, said the Foreign Office. Attention of world capitals was once again drawn toward illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir(IOJ&K) urging them to do everything it can to ameliorate the worsening humanitarian situation in IIOJ&K including call for lifting the year-long draconian military siege and provision of unfettered access and assistance to Kashmiri people in dire need of healthcare.

“We reiterate the need for evolving a strategic approach to address humanitarian emergencies, guided by the imperative of upholding international humanitarian law, preventing conflicts from eruption, and peacefully resolving long-standing disputes and conflicts”, said the Foreign Office.

Pakistan also paid tributes to the sacrifices rendered by humanitarian workers in saving lives and providing support and protection to people affected by conflict, disasters and emergencies. “We commend the United Nations, its Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other humanitarian organisations for their leadership in mobilizing and delivering assistance to civilians in need, despite challenges of access and restrictions”, added the statement.

Pakistan also values the active role of and substantial contribution by the humanitarian community, in particular, the United Nations in responding to the unprecedented health and socio-economic impact of COVID-19.