Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday warned that his country could face another influx of refugees from India if the international community did not act to stop New Delhi from potentially revoking the citizenship of over 200 million Muslims.
Addressing an international conference on refugees in the capital Islamabad, Khan said the Indian government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was targeting Muslims and other minorities through citizenship registration acts that could make them stateless.
“This will have future problems for our country because it could [lead to] a huge level refugee problem. We are watching the BJP leaders on TV when they are telling the protesters who are protesting against this unfair legislation, telling them to go to Pakistan,” Khan said.
The two-day conference was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.S. top peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, Afghan Vice President Muhammad Sarwar Danish, Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and other senior officials from roughly 20 countries.
Urging the UN to intervene before the situation spiraled out of control, Khan warned that it could otherwise “become one of the flashpoints in the world.
Earlier in December, addressing the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, the PM Khan said Pakistan would not be able to accommodate more refugees and urged the world to “step in now”.
“We in Pakistan are not just worried that there will be a refugee crisis. We are worried that this could lead to a conflict, a conflict between two nuclear-armed countries,” said Khan.
