The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said it will look into the issue of around 1.5 lakh West Pakistan refugees who have been discriminated and denied citizenship rights in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947.
“What I have come to know is that West Pakistan refugees became refugees in 1947 before we came into operation. This is my first visit to Jammu and Kashmir and I am here to look into all these issues,” William Tall, Chief of Mission, UNHCR, India and the Maldives, told.
“Protection of refugees is the responsibility of UNHCR. For this group of people (West Pakistan refugees), I can’t speak in the current situation because I have to look into the issue in a broader aspect (legal and emotional) to recognise as to why they don’t have the citizenship right in Jammu and Kashmir and how do they feel about their stay here,” he said. There are 25,262 displaced families from West Pakistan struggling to get the citizenship right in J&K despite the fact that they have been living in this part of the country since 1947.
UN to look into West Pak refugee issue
