Comprehensive registration of Afghans planned

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Pakistani government agreed last week in the capital Islamabad to carry out a national registration of Afghans in the country. During the drive, Afghan refugees will be issued ID cards allowing them to stay in Pakistan for another three years. “This registration exercise is an important part of the repatriation process because it will capture a detailed profile of Afghans living in Pakistan: where they come from, how old they are, what skills they have,” Vivian Tan, a UNHCR spokeswoman said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad on Wednesday. The US $6 million registration, which is scheduled to start later this year, is a follow-up to the census conducted in March 2005, which showed that more than 3 million Afghans were still living in Pakistan. “The findings will also tell us the needs of Afghans who have trouble returning, so appropriate solutions can be found for them too,” she added. Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will conduct the exercise using fingerprint biometrics and photos to record information. Back in Afghanistan, the data collected in the Pakistan registration will help the Afghan government to plan regional development in potential areas of return. It will also help the government make the best use of the skills returnees have, for instance, by identifying key workers such as teachers and doctors, UNHCR said. More than 2.7 million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan since the UN refugee agency started its voluntary repatriation operation in Pakistan in early 2002 following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.