ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 (APP):Minister of State for Interior, Shehryar Khan Afridi on Thursday emphasized that law enforcement cooperation needs to be supplemented to address underlying drivers of irregular migration and opening more avenues for legal migration.
Addressing sixth Ministerial Conference of Budapest Process on Migration Issues at Istanbul, Turkey, he also stressed enhanced dialogue and cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination.
The Minister invited attention to assess impact of restrictive visa regime and stringent border controls on entire cycle of migration.
He called for countering tendencies of xenophobia, racial profiling and Islamophobia in destination and cautioned against scape-goating migrants for narrow political gains.
Shehryar Afridi said Pakistan is both a country of origin as well as destination for migrants and added Pakistan continued to host, on an average, more than a million irregular migrants from neighbouring countries and region for over four decades.
He said these migrants have enjoyed social mobility, employment opportunities and access to health and education, says a message received here.
The Minister said that Pakistan has effective migration policies that were implemented through robust legal and administrative frameworks.
On sidelines of the Conference, Shehryar Afridi held meetings with Ministers for Interior of Turkey, Greece, Croatia as well as Minister for Refugees of Afghanistan and exchanged views on various aspects of migration.
