As the Afghan refugee registration campaign nears its end on 31 December, participation is gathering momentum particularly in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), UN officials said on Wednesday.
“The pace [of Afghan registration] has increased exponentially, especially in NWFP where more than 20,000 people are getting registered daily through 19 static registration centres and mobile vans in the province,” said Indrika Ratwatte, Assistant Representative at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad.
To date, more than 836,000 Afghan refugees have registered with Pakistani authorities in a drive to provide them with identity cards for a three-year period, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The Proof of Registration (PoR) card recognises the bearer as an Afghan citizen living temporarily in Pakistan.
A provincial breakdown of Afghan registration suggests that more than half a million come from NWFP, another 150,000 from Balochistan, 113,000 from Punjab, 64,000 from Sindh and some 6,000 from Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
The US $6 million registration exercise is a follow-up to a comprehensive Afghan census conducted in Pakistan in February and March 2005, which found more than 3 million Afghan refugees were still living in the country. Only Afghans enumerated in last year’s census are eligible for the registration.
With just two-and-a-half weeks left, UNHCR officials have urged the eligible Afghans to come forward for registration.
“This is their last chance to get PoR cards, which will also entitle them to return and reintegration assistance next year,” Ratwatte said.
The UN refugee agency is in negotiations with Islamabad and Kabul on new return arrangements beyond 2006, possibly moving from individual travel assistance to area-based reintegration assistance.
A tripartite meeting of all three parties is scheduled for the second half of January 2007 to further discuss the new voluntary Afghan repatriation programme due to start in March 2007.
More than 2.8 million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan since 2002 under a UNHCR-assisted voluntary repatriation programme that ended on 14 October after five years.
Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is conducting the exercise, using fingerprint biometrics and photos to record information through stationary and mobile registration centres across the country with the support of the government's Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and the UN refugee agency.
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“The pace [of Afghan registration] has increased exponentially, especially in NWFP where more than 20,000 people are getting registered daily through 19 static registration centres and mobile vans in the province,” said Indrika Ratwatte, Assistant Representative at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad.
To date, more than 836,000 Afghan refugees have registered with Pakistani authorities in a drive to provide them with identity cards for a three-year period, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The Proof of Registration (PoR) card recognises the bearer as an Afghan citizen living temporarily in Pakistan.
A provincial breakdown of Afghan registration suggests that more than half a million come from NWFP, another 150,000 from Balochistan, 113,000 from Punjab, 64,000 from Sindh and some 6,000 from Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
The US $6 million registration exercise is a follow-up to a comprehensive Afghan census conducted in Pakistan in February and March 2005, which found more than 3 million Afghan refugees were still living in the country. Only Afghans enumerated in last year’s census are eligible for the registration.
With just two-and-a-half weeks left, UNHCR officials have urged the eligible Afghans to come forward for registration.
“This is their last chance to get PoR cards, which will also entitle them to return and reintegration assistance next year,” Ratwatte said.
The UN refugee agency is in negotiations with Islamabad and Kabul on new return arrangements beyond 2006, possibly moving from individual travel assistance to area-based reintegration assistance.
A tripartite meeting of all three parties is scheduled for the second half of January 2007 to further discuss the new voluntary Afghan repatriation programme due to start in March 2007.
More than 2.8 million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan since 2002 under a UNHCR-assisted voluntary repatriation programme that ended on 14 October after five years.
Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is conducting the exercise, using fingerprint biometrics and photos to record information through stationary and mobile registration centres across the country with the support of the government's Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and the UN refugee agency.
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