The Interior Ministry of Pakistan ordered to grant Pakistani citizenship to a child born to an Afghan refugee family. On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the Interior Ministry to take measures to award Pakistani citizenship to a 24-year-old Pakistani-origin Afghan national.

According to Pakistan Today, Fazal Haq, a 24-year-old Afghan born in a refugee family in Pakistan, filed a petition case contending that he was born in Pakistan and has been living in Pakistan for 24 years. Islamabad High court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that like many countries such as  America, Pakistan law also was contended to give citizenship to a person born here. The petitioner was required to produce just a birth certificate, he added.

The IHC court directed the interior ministry of Pakistan to conclude its legal work regarding the petitioner’s citizenship by next Friday.

The ministry officials assured the court that the decision regarding the citizenship would be taken as soon after the reification of the birth certificate.