Afghan registration deadline extended until 19 January

Following a heavy turnout, Pakistani authorities on Friday announced they would be extending a nationwide Afghan registration campaign for another three weeks to register as many eligible Afghans as possible.

The US $6 million exercise, which began on 15 October, was scheduled to conclude by the end of December, will now continue until 19 January.

The drive is aimed at providing millions of Afghan refugees living in the country with official identification for a three-year period validating their stay in exile.

“After an initial slow start due to logistical and technical problems on our end, the pace of [Afghan] registration has now accelerated to the point that today, we are registering over 25,000 Afghans per day across the country. In response to this increased output, we have decided to [further] continue this [registration], to provide Afghans a final opportunity to get registered,” Sajid Hussain Chattha, Secretary of the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The ongoing registration exercise is a follow-up to a comprehensive Afghan census conducted in Pakistan in February and March 2005, which found that more than 3 million Afghans had still been living in the country. Only Afghans counted in last year’s census can take part in the current registration effort.

Since the campaign started in mid-October, over 1.3 million Afghans have registered with Pakistani authorities. Some 48 percent of those who registered are females, whereas another 51 percent are under the age of 14.

Registered Afghans above five years of age receive Proof of Registration (POR) cards, recognising the bearers as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan. Children under five are listed on their mother's card.

New ID card for Afghans living in Pakistan

Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is conducting the exercise, using fingerprint biometrics and photos to record information through fixed and mobile registration centres across the country with the support of the government’s Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

While a photo was mandatory for registering Afghan citizens, the condition has been relaxed for females where they found it against their culture. Some 35 percent of registered Afghan women have been issued with ‘Proof of Registration’ cards without photographs.

The photo requirement has also been removed for children under five years of age in order to speed up the registration process.

This first-ever official documentation of Afghans in exile seeks to profile the Afghan population in Pakistan in an effort to search for durable solutions, according to UNHCR officials.

The registration will be suspended temporarily for four days on account of the upcoming Eid holidays starting on 31 December, but will resume on 4 January.

TS/AT/DS