Minister for States and Frontier Region Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind Wednesday asked the major donor countries to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with generous contribution for sustained returns of Afghans from Pakistan.
Talking to APP here in connection with the World Refugee Day, the Minister said that the government has also taken a number of initiatives to repatriate Afghan refugees back to their home land with dignity and honour.
Sardar Yar Rind said "Pakistan is hosting more than 2.1 million registered Afghans, 45 percent of whom live in 86 camps in North West Frontier Province, Balochistan and Punjab." He said all registered Afghans above the age of five received Proof of Registration (PoR) Cards issued by the government recognising them as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan.
The Minister said that PoR cards would be de-registered at the Voluntary Repatriation Centres (VRCs) by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) before their departure for Afghanistan. These cards, he said, are valid for three years, until December 2009.
About non-registered Afghan refugees, he said the government had granted a six-month grace period from March 15 to April 15 this year to voluntarily repatriate with the enhanced package amounting $100 per person.
Around 205,000 non-registered Afghan refugees had returned to their homeland from Pakistan during said period, he added. To a question regarding refugees without PoR Cards, Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind said they would be treated according to the land of laws. According to UNHCR over 3 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan with UNHCR assistance since 2002.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.