Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday issued instructions for registered Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan to be allowed to open bank accounts.
“I have issued instructions today that Afghan refugees who are registered can open bank accounts and from now onwards they can participate in the formal economy of the country,” PM Imran said in a tweet. “This should have been done a long time ago,” he added.
Last year, the prime minister announced he will grant nationality to all Pakistan-born refugees of Afghan and Bangladeshi origins.
Pakistan is one of the largest refugee-hosting nations in the world, home to an estimated 2.4 million registered and undocumented people who have fled Afghanistan, some as far back as the Soviet invasion of 1979.