UNHCR reports record repatriation

UNHCR officials in Pakistan on Thursday reported a record number of Afghans voluntarily repatriating from the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) this month. An estimated 80,000 Afghans have registered for repatriation at the Takhtabaig voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) since the programme began on 1 March - a number equal to the annual repatriation rate in the late 1990s. "This has gone beyond our expectations," UNHCR spokeswoman, Melita Sunjic told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad." We never had such a large scale repatriation for Afghan refugees as conditions inside the country have never been conducive enough," she explained. On Wednesday alone, 14,000 refugees were registered and agency staff were still working on a backlog of people wanting to return, she maintained. It is precisely that enthusiasm for going home that brought about the temporary suspension of operations at the centre on the same day. Due to security concerns and a huge queue of impatient returnees, UNHCR and Pakistani authorities jointly agreed to temporarily halt operations until after the Muharam holidays. The security situation is traditionally problematic during the holy month of Muharam and security forces were needed elsewhere, Sunjic noted. With the turnout so high, the number of registration staff at the centre have already been doubled to more than 50 to meet the demand. Takhtabaig, 16 km west of the provincial capital Peshawar and the first of seven such centres to open in Pakistan, has a capacity to process 1,000 families a day, providing water, sanitation facilities and medical care. Prior to the suspension, up to 1,800 families had been registering daily and on Wednesday, 3,000 families were registered. Such demand led to water shortages, traffic jams, long waiting hours and security problems. In a statement on Tuesday, UNHCR representative in Pakistan, Hasim Utkan, said it was only prepared to carry out the operation under maximum security conditions. During the closure, UNHCR will be enlarging the facility to increase its capacity. Additionally, preparations to open another registration centre in Nawa Pass, north of Peshawar were well underway, it added. "This will be a smaller operation, but will relieve some of the pressure on Takhtabaig," Sunjic maintained. As for when Takhtabaig's would reopen, she explained: "The moment we have enough security on the spot, we will resume operations." Upon registering at a VRC in Pakistan, the returning families make their way back to Afghanistan via transport they organise themselves. On arrival at a corresponding UNHCR encashment centre inside the country - currently operating in Mohmandar in eastern Afghanistan and the southern city of Kandahar - families with less than five members receive US $20 per person to offset travel expenses, while families of five or more will receive US $100 for the whole family. Additional assistance awaits the refugees in their place of origin with UNHCR establishing assistance distribution centres in each Afghan province. Of the 32 planned, seven are currently in operation. Included in the assistance package is 150 kg of wheat per family, as well as blankets, plastic sheeting and other non-food related items. But repatriation from Pakistan will continue even during the temporary closure of Takhtabaig. UNHCR Peshawar has a list of 12,000 individuals from NWFP who applied for repatriation and have been waiting for the operation to start. Asked what measures were being taken to expand its capacity, Sunjik said the situation would be further improved with the establishment of a way station near the border with Afghanistan. "This will allow Afghans a safe place to spend the night before proceeding into Afghanistan," she explained. Additionally, mobile registration teams were visiting refugee camps in NWFP and Baluchistan and an additional VRC would be opening in Pakistan's southern commercial city of Karachi, she added. Meanwhile, in the southern province of Baluchistan, some 97 families returned to Afghanistan on Tuesday as part of the repatriation programme. The next scheduled date for registration there will be on 26 March. According to the United Nations, there are some 3.7 million Afghan refugees worldwide, including two million in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran, the two largest host countries. UNHCR hopes to repatriate some 400,000 Afghans from Pakistan annually over the next five years. UNHCR Iran is slated to begin its repatriation drive, in coordination with the Iranian government, on 9 April.