Pakistan on Sunday warned the international community over the developing “humanitarian crisis” among Afghan refugees due to the coronavirus crisis, Anadolu News Agency reported.

Pakistan’s Minister for States and Frontier Regions Shehryar Khan Afridi told reporters in the capital Islamabad that Pakistan was rolling out a special relief package for Afghan refugees “despite financial difficulties faced by the country."

"If Pakistan can roll out a special relief package for Afghan refugees, why can't the developed nations come to the rescue of the besieged refugees,” he said.

Afridi continued: “Pakistan was doing its bit to help out refugees… we are raising funds to help out the Afghan refugees stranded in camps due to lockdown situation.”

Currently, around 2.8 million--registered and unregistered--Afghan refugees are residing in Pakistan, according to reports.

The minister said Pakistan has asked its representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to immediately allicate funds to provide food to the Afghans in refugee camps.