UNHCR extends Afghan repatriation programme

16 Mar, 2004

The UN Refugee Agency United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday extended its 2004 voluntary repatriation programme to Balochistan.
The start of the operation in Quetta had been delayed by enforcement of curfew. That had blocked the return of any refugees heading toward southern Afghanistan.
Despite the delay in Quetta, the voluntary repatriation programme, which began on March 3 in Peshawar has started strongly.
On Monday, 1,320 people were processed in NWFP and headed back to Afghanistan, raising the total since operations began this month to 6,925. During the period March 3-14, before the start of operations in Quetta, UNHCR assisted 4,322 refugees to return from North West Frontier Province, 994 from Karachi in Sindh province and 289 from Islamabad and other parts of Punjab.

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