Refugee repatriation tops 150,000

The office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday confirmed that the number of Afghans repatriated from Pakistan since the joint repatriation programme began on 1 March has now topped 150,000. "It doesn't appear the numbers are going to dwindle any time soon," UNHCR spokeswoman Melita Sunjic told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. "Indeed, we could see a further increase," she said, adding that thousands of Afghans were already waiting outside the Takhtabaig voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to register for the programme. But while Afghans are showing unprecedented enthusiasm about returning, serious doubts are now being raised about the availability of adequate funding. With people now returning at a rate of 50,000 a week, UNHCR warned on Tuesday that there was a danger that the rush could outstrip the funds available. Describing the scale and speed of return as "phenomenal", Rupert Colville of UNHCR told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, that it had quickly drained the money earmarked for the operation. While UNHCR had received US $128 million of $271 million requested in the last funding appeal for Afghanistan, all but $2 million had already been spent, he said. "If the numbers returning continue at such a rate, then obviously we may have to revise the appeal upwards," Colville added. Indeed, given the current flow, there is a strong possibility that the agency will have to completely revise its planning figures. These envisaged UNHCR assisting 400,000 repatriates this year. However, that number may well have to be doubled if the present return rate continues. "The magnitude of the people returning demonstrates the optimism of Afghans regarding the political developments inside their country," Sunjic said. "The international community has a moral and political obligation to provide the necessary funds to support this." She warned that if additional funding was not forthcoming, there would be a real threat to the operation. "The donor community needs to understand how tight the financial situation is. This doesn't just have operational implications, but political ones as well." Takhtabaig, 16 km west of the NWFP capital Peshawar, is the first of voluntary repatriation centre to open of seven planned in Pakistan. As part of the initial process, Afghans volunteering for repatriation receive registration papers entitling them to receive a cash grant, food supplies and a repatriation package once they arrive at their destinations. On arrival at the UNHCR-designated encashment centre, families with less than five members receive $20 per person to offset travel expenses, while families of five or more members receive $100 for the whole family. Additional assistance provided in Pakistan includes 150 kg of wheat per family, as well as blankets, plastic sheeting and other non-food items. In an effort to expand its geographical coverage in Pakistan, UNHCR on Wednesday began using one of its mobile teams in the southern commercial city of Karachi to register repatriation applicants there. The agency is also working with the Pakistani authorities at the Chaman border point, where some 40,000 Afghans are encamped, awaiting formal permission to enter Pakistan to receive assistance. "Many of these people have expressed interest in returning as well," Sunjic said. Colville likened the scope of the current Afghan returns from Pakistan to the 1992 repatriation, when 1.2 million Afghans returned from Pakistan within eight months after the fall of the Russian-backed communist government in the Afghan capital, Kabul. According to the UN, there are some 3.7 million Afghan refugees worldwide, including two million in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran. Earlier, UNHCR had hoped to repatriate about 400,000 annually from Pakistan over the next five years, and the same number from Iran. A repatriation operation for Afghan refugees in Iran - a joint programme between UNHCR and the government - is scheduled to begin on 9 April.