Mahira Khan says homeless, refugee children is a critical issue

PESHAWAR: Pakistani actor Mahira Khan visited an Afghan refugee camp in Azakhel, Nowshera on Saturday.

While speaking at an event of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Peshawar after visiting the Azakhel repatriation centre, Mahira said children being homeless and living as refugees is a critical issue. 

“More than half of the refugees are children," she said, adding that there is a need to work collectively to overcome the refugee crisis. “This is a huge thing because children are our future.”

The actor further said, “If we come together and try to collectively try to help the situation, however, and whatever little way we can, we are only making the future of this world better." 

Moreover, the UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi who was in Pakistan for a three-day visit along with UN Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock said, development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must be accelerated.

“Education is a priority for refugees and host communities in Pakistan. Young Afghans need that to return,” he said after visiting a repatriation centre in Azakhel.

Since 2002, around 4.3 million Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan with UNHCR’s assistance.