Islamabad, May 14: Pakistan has agreed for the first time to allow foreigners fleeing conflict in their homelands to live and work legally in the country, the UN high commissioner for refugees said today. Pakistan's national aliens registration authority signed an agreement with the UNHCR yesterday promising to grant refugee status to select registered foreign nationals, the UNHCR said in a statement issued in Islamabad. Previously, Pakistan would allow refugees recognised by the United Nations to stay in the country but they were not allowed to work and had to rely on the UNHCR for support, the statement said. Pakistan is not party to the major international agreements protecting refugees. Under the new agreement, ``refugee rights like freedom of movement, protection against arbitrary arrest and the right to seek gainful employment will be guaranteed,'' UNHCR representative Hasim Utkan said in the statement. Pakistan signed a separate agreement with the UNHCR in March to help the 1.8 million Afghans - who account for most of the refugees in Pakistan - to return home on a voluntary basis after 23 years of war in their homeland. At the end of the three-year programme, Afghans without residence permits risk being jailed or deported. But the new agreement will not apply to Afghans, the UNHCR statement said.

Bureau Report