More than 1.6 million Afghan citizens have so far been registered in the largest-scale registration exercise conducted by the government in collaboration with UN refugee agency.
An official told APP on Sunday that those registered receive proof of registration (PoR) cards valid for three years, recognising the bearers as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan.
Giving information, she said only those Afghans, who were enumerated in the census of February/March 2005 could take part in registration.
Those who were in the census but their names were not found in the census database had been asked to approach the registration centres in their areas with documents to prove they were present in Pakistan at the time of the census, she added.
The official said the registration exercise was conducted by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) with the support of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) Ministry of Safron and the UN refugee agency.
The government has also announced that the registration of Afghan citizens in the country would be extended till February 2 to facilitate more Afghans, she added.
The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions had also launched media campaign to educate Afghan citizens about benefits of registration.
"Registration is mandatory for all Afghans enumerated through census. Those who do not register and can not demonstrate compelling circumstances for not doing so, will be subjected to relevant national laws", the official added.
More than 2.8 million Afghans have repatriated to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance since 2002.
Voluntary repatriation will resume in March this year after the winter breaks, with an enhanced return package and new repatriation modalities linked to the PoR card.
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