New arrangements for returning Afghans considered

Together with the authorities in Islamabad and Kabul, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is considering revising the assistance programme for Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan. "UNHCR has been considering revisiting the exit programme [for Afghan refugees], with a shift from the current travel assistance for returnees to reintegration assistance in the area of return, to facilitate sustainable return and also to ensure a more efficient use of resources," UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday. Since 2002, UNHCR has been running a voluntary repatriation programme for Afghan refugees living in Pakistan under a tripartite agreement between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the UN refugee agency. According to UNHCR, the revised return arrangements are expected to come into effect in 2007 under a new tripartite framework for return and reintegration, following the expiry of the existing programme in December 2006. Under the current programme, Afghan returnees are eligible for transport assistance ranging from US $4 to $37 per person, depending on the distance to their destination. Additionally, they also receive a small monetary grant to help them with additional costs. Nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees have voluntarily repatriated from Pakistan in 2005, the highest number of returns since 2002 when nearly 1.6 million Afghans went home with UNHCR assistance. In addition, a significant number also cross into Afghanistan without approaching the UN refugee agency, however, there is no record of the numbers involved in such spontaneous repatriations. According to UNHCR, while returnees in the initial years of repatriation were largely newcomers to Pakistan, many of the returnees in 2005 had repatriated after spending almost 20 or more years in exile. They made up 65 percent of the total returns in 2005 from a mere 30 percent of the total returned in 2004. Currently, the UNHCR repatriation operation from Pakistan is suspended for a winter break till the end of February 2006. In addition, preparations for an Afghan registration exercise are also under way which will be carried out later this year. "Under the registration exercise, all the Afghans living in Pakistan aged five and above who were counted in the March 2005 census would be issued with a Proof of Registration (PoR) by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA)," Baloch said.