UNHCR welcomes agreement on Afghan repatriation

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed this week's agreement on a framework for voluntary repatriation from Pakistan. Once officially signed, the accord on Afghan returns from Pakistan will become the fourth in the series following similar agreements reached with the governments of Iran, France and the UK. "This is the framework of cooperation that we have been seeking since we began the programme nine months ago," Jack Redden, a UNHCR spokesman told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday. His comments follow an announcement that the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR had on Tuesday agreed in principle, on the accord during a two-day meeting held in the Afghan capital, Kabul. According to a UNHCR press statement on Wednesday, Afghan and Pakistani officials along with UNHCR representatives agreed on all details of the tri-partite agreement. The final agreement will be presented to the respective cabinets for adoption before the official signature. "I warmly welcome this agreement which provides a solid legal framework for the future repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan," UNHCR chief of Afghan operations, Filippo Grandi said. "We hope that the official agreement will be signed by the three parties in the near future." Asked why an agreement had not be reached sooner, Redden explained that there had been some differences between the respective countries that were resolved during the meetings. "That was the real success of this week's negotiations," he said. Under the tripartite agreement, the voluntary repatriation programme will help all Afghans residing in Pakistan who wish to return to their homeland. According to the statement, the three parties have proposed to continue assisting the voluntary returns for the next three years, during which the situation will be reviewed periodically. At the end of the time frame, Afghans remaining in Pakistan will be screened to identify those who may still need international refugee protection. "This is an important step toward strengthening the bi-lateral relations between the two countries. Given the large size of the Afghan population in Pakistan, the issue of return is an important component in their relations," Grandi maintained. More than 1.5 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan since the Afghan authorities and the UN refugee agency began to assist the voluntary repatriation in March this year. However, with winter fast approaching, the rate of return from Pakistan has significantly slowed in recent weeks. Less than 10,000 are returning per week across the eastern border, down from a high of nearly 100,000 in May. An estimated 1.8 million Afghans still reside in Pakistan. UNHCR estimates that another 600,000 may return from Pakistan next year. "So much of that depends on conditions inside the country and we are currently undertaking a survey to best determine the willingness of people to go back," Redden added.