As many as 149,189 registered Afghan refugees have returned home since the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR started this year's voluntary repatriation programme. The voluntary repatriation programme of registered Afghans having Proof of Registration (PoR) Cards started on April 19, official told APP here on Tuesday.
Giving brief, he said that around 120,117 registered Afghans have been repatriated from NWFP, while, 17,727 from Balochistan, 3,869 from Sindh and 7,482 from Punjab and Islamabad. Official said a total of 2.153 million Afghans were registered in the government-led exercise.
He said all registered Afghans above the age of five received PoR cards recognising them as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan, he added. These cards are valid for three years, until December 2009. Registered Afghans returning to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance will get an average of $100 per individual as a transport and re-integration grant to help them settle in Afghanistan.
Iris verification for returnees aged five years and above is mandatory for UNHCR assistance. PoR cards will be re-registered at the VRCs by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) before their departure for Afghanistan, he added. The voluntary repatriation of registered Afghans will continue until November this year.
Meanwhile, UNHCR has also informed the Afghans returning home from Pakistan that its voluntary repatriation programme to facilitate them, will stop from October 31 due to the winter break. Returnees should not approach the UNHCR Voluntary Repatriation Centres (VRCs) in Hayatabad (Peshawar) and Baleli (Quetta) starting November 1, until a further announcement early next year.
UNHCR will re-start the process of voluntary repatriation of Afghans in Pakistan in March 2008. UNHCR will keep Afghans informed if there are any further announcements on voluntary repatriation during the winter break, he added. To keep themselves updated on important announcements, Afghans have been advised to tune into the UNHCR-sponsored radio show on Radio Pakistan, official said.