Afghan refugees living in Pakistan on Wednesday derided Afghan Presidential contenders for not addressing issues facing Afghan migrants abroad.
"I hope that the next President addresses the issues of migrants and facilitates our return to our native country," said Juma Gul, a refugee living in Peshawar.
Ms. Mastoora Estanikzai has lived in Pakistan for thirty years and now works as a teacher at a private school. "I want the next president to distribute jobs to the right people," she said. "In the past, qualified people were not assigned to the jobs."
Despite the overwhelming lack of knowledge most of them have about the upcoming elections and field of contenders, all the refugees TOLOnews spoke to agreed that their concerns have been neglected.
"I do not know who the candidates are, but my request to them is that they focus on the issue of refugees," a refugee named Mohammadullah said.
Millions of Afghans have fled violence and persecution in Afghanistan over the past few decades, many of them residing just next door in Pakistan and Iran. The United Nations has reported on a number of occassions that the rights of Afghan refugees have been violated and their living conditions inhumane.
The Independent Election Comission (IEC) considered facilitating voting for refugees in Pakistan toward the end of 2013, but backed out due to budgetary constraints.