![[Pakistan] Afghan refugees in Gujranwala prepare to leave for their homeland.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/2005817.jpg.webp?itok=Yf9kznuh "The repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan slows down as winter approaches")
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday announced the closure of this year’s Afghan repatriation assistance programme from Pakistan by 14 October, mainly due to a slow pace of returns.
The programme is in its last operational year under existing tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UN refugee agency that will expire at the end of December.
“There are two main reason for this decision. First, the pace of repatriation typically slows down as winter approaches. With Ramadan, it is slowing down even more, coming to a standstill in November/December,” Vivian Tan, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
“Secondly, we are trying to avoid confusion between the two operations - repatriation and [upcoming] registration [which starts on 15 October] - to help Afghans make a clear distinction between the two processes,” she explained.
The pace of returns has been slow this year since the start of the repatriation season in March. “Daily returns this week have ranged from 65 to about 200 individuals,” Tan said.
In 2006, some 130,000 Afghans have repatriated so far, according to UNHCR. However, the UN agency expected that 400,000 Afghans would return home in 2006.
UNHCR has announced that the repatriation assistance programme will resume in March 2007, pending the approval of the new tripartite accord.
“All the concerned partners are still discussing the modalities for the new tripartite agreement, which will govern the next repatriation programme, but nothing is confirmed yet,” the UNHCR spokeswoman said. “We expect to hear of an extension only in early 2007.”
Meanwhile, a country wide registration of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan will run from 15 October to 29 December, providing them with refugee ID cards valid for three years.
According to UNHCR, any future return assistance will only be given to Afghans returning with the refugee ID cards issued after the registration drive. The cards will be issued to the Afghans, who were counted in the census conducted in February and March 2005.
More than 2.8 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since the programme was first launched by UNHCR in 2002 following the ousting of the hardline Taleban regime in Afghanistan.
Despite high returns, Pakistan still hosts more than 2.5 million Afghans as counted in last year’s census.
TS/AT
The programme is in its last operational year under existing tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UN refugee agency that will expire at the end of December.
“There are two main reason for this decision. First, the pace of repatriation typically slows down as winter approaches. With Ramadan, it is slowing down even more, coming to a standstill in November/December,” Vivian Tan, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
“Secondly, we are trying to avoid confusion between the two operations - repatriation and [upcoming] registration [which starts on 15 October] - to help Afghans make a clear distinction between the two processes,” she explained.
The pace of returns has been slow this year since the start of the repatriation season in March. “Daily returns this week have ranged from 65 to about 200 individuals,” Tan said.
In 2006, some 130,000 Afghans have repatriated so far, according to UNHCR. However, the UN agency expected that 400,000 Afghans would return home in 2006.
UNHCR has announced that the repatriation assistance programme will resume in March 2007, pending the approval of the new tripartite accord.
“All the concerned partners are still discussing the modalities for the new tripartite agreement, which will govern the next repatriation programme, but nothing is confirmed yet,” the UNHCR spokeswoman said. “We expect to hear of an extension only in early 2007.”
Meanwhile, a country wide registration of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan will run from 15 October to 29 December, providing them with refugee ID cards valid for three years.
According to UNHCR, any future return assistance will only be given to Afghans returning with the refugee ID cards issued after the registration drive. The cards will be issued to the Afghans, who were counted in the census conducted in February and March 2005.
More than 2.8 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since the programme was first launched by UNHCR in 2002 following the ousting of the hardline Taleban regime in Afghanistan.
Despite high returns, Pakistan still hosts more than 2.5 million Afghans as counted in last year’s census.
TS/AT
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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