EU urged to allow legal migration to Pakistanis.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan yesterday urged the european Union to allow legal migration to Pakistanis. Speaking at a joint news conference with european Union Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar she said that both sides agreed to work in the area of migration and mobility. Khar said Pakistan was working to minimize the possibility of illegal migration, however, simultaneously required to 'open doors for legalized migration and an infrastructure for producing skilled workforce.' She said that Pakistan with its 65 percent young population was well-placed today to provide the eU skilled workforce in various areas, including information technology. Khar said Pakistan gave high importance to a sustained engagement with the eU for a promised development, including the progress on GSP Plus. To a question, if Pakistan would consider extending the deadline for the stay of Afghan refugees, she said the matter needed a long-term policy, which was not dependent on approvals by the cabinet. Khar said Pakistan did not seek acknowledgment from the international community for its generosity in hosting over four million Afghan refugees. The act, she said, is being done out of sheer global responsibility. She stressed the need for the world to 'parachute the Afghans towards safety' and added that Pakistan was pursuing its objective of creating an environment of peace for the Afghan people. To a question on evidence collection in the Arshad Sharif killing case, she said following the 'unfortunate incident', an investigation team was immediately sent to Kenya. Also, Pakistan's ambassador to Kenya put her best effort to facilitate the transportation of the journalist's body to home, she said. Khar said it was not useful to cast aspersions at this stage, adding that 'we will get to the bottom and the journalist community deserves the closure of the case'. Speaking on the occasion, european...

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