ISLAMABAD: A total 542,000 Afghan refugees have returned to home country and at present, 1.611 million registered Afghan refugees are residing in Pakistan to be repatriated under the repatriation programme till the December 2012.
According to Ministry of SAFRON, out of 1.611, 44% (0.709 million) Afghan refugees are residing in 42 camps whereas the remaining 56% (0.905 million) are residing outside the camps according to "Registration of Afghans in Pakistan" carried out by NADRA between October 2006 and February 2007.
This indicates the quantum of the total Registered Afghan refugees as 2.153 million at the time of registration by NADRA.
Now, after repatriation, the presently remaining population of the total Registered Afghan refugees is 1.611 million as per data prepared by NADRA.
There exists a Tripartite Agreement between the Governments of Afghanistan & Pakistan and the UNHCR, according to which the repatriation of Afghan refugees is on "voluntary" basis.
The Agreement is valid till 31" December, 2012. To encourage and motivate the Afghan refugees to repatriate, the repatriation package of US $ 100 per person/returnee has been enhanced to US$ 150 per person/ returnee, effective from January, 2011. The amount is given to returnees inside Afghanistan by UNHCR.
Ministry of SAFRON has been pursuing the international community effectively on each available fora for enhanced and continued support to ensure maximum repatriation.
The Government of Pakistan has also stressed the Government of Afghanistan to allocate sufficient funds for rehabilitation of returnees in their Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) 2009-2013 so that the repatriation should be sustainable.
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