UNHCR reports drop in repatriation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported a decline in the number of Afghans repatriating from Pakistan in recent weeks. Last week alone witnessed a drop of 21 percent in returns from the previous week. "There has been a slight decline over the past two weeks, but nothing dramatic," UNHCR spokesman Jack Redden, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. "The numbers still remain high." According to an agency statement on Tuesday, while total returns from surrounding countries during the month of July numbered more than 303,000 people, this was three-quarters of the number in May, when 412,738 persons returned to their homeland. In June, the number dropped to 292,264, possibly due either to a wait-and-see attitude during the then-ongoing Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) meeting in Kabul, to a decrease in the assistance package, or to aid pipeline problems. The number of returnees in March when the programme got underway was more than 121,000, while over 297,000 people returned in April, the statement added. But Redden explained with so many people returning early on, such a decline was somewhat expected, particularly with winter approaching. "There is definitely a seasonal element to the process," he said. To date, more than 1.4 million Afghans have participated in the voluntary repatriation effort, 1.3 million from Pakistan alone. As part of the assistance package, returnees participating in the programme receive food and non-food related items, as well as a small monetary grant. In a parallel move, an estimated 200,000 people had returned spontaneously (unassisted) and agency staff at the Torkham border crossing have reported seeing 200 Afghans crossing each day - outside the joint initiative. At the same time, more than 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned home with the help of the humanitarian community, while some 400,000 IDPs have returned spontaneously since the fall of the Taliban last year. UNHCR noted on Tuesday, however, there remained another 800,000 IDPs throughout the country as a result of the prolonged effects of drought and insecurity in parts of the Central Asian nation. Regarding destinations, returnees appear to favor Afghanistan's larger cities. Of the more than 668,000 people who opted to return to Kabul, Nangarhar and Balkh provinces, 53 percent or more than 351,000 went to the provincial capitals of Kabul city, Jalalabad and Mazar-e Sharif. The statement added that in addition to cutting back on their operating hours, UNHCR had already reduced the number of voluntary repatriation centres (VRCs) where returnees could register for the assistance programme. Since 1 August, the Azahiel VRC on the edge of Peshawar in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Burhan VRC near the capital - handling refugees from Pakistan's eastern Punjab province - had both closed. Verification centres were now working only five days a week, except for the VRC in southeastern Baluchistan, which was operating only four days a week. While UNHCR expects that the number of returnees from Pakistan, has peaked and will likely continue to decline over the coming months, it continues to call upon the donor community for further assistance. The agency still faces a US $43 million shortfall in its US $271 million budget for the Afghan crisis. "People now should be focusing on making the returns sustainable," Redden said. "We need development and employment back in Afghanistan so that these people can be reintegrating into their society."