AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Finding a solution for Afghans who wish to stay

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 18 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - The government of Pakistan and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have started discussions with donor agencies over the future of Afghans who wish to stay in Pakistan at the end of the tripartite agreement in March 2006.

"Consultations are going on to look into the options for the Afghans in Pakistan after the expiry of the existing agreement for voluntary repatriation in March next year. Besides that, consultations are going on over the development of the Afghan refugee-impacted areas of Pakistan," Jack Redden, a spokesman for UNHCR told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The issue of the rehabilitation and development of land and facilities currently occupied by Afghan refugees in Pakistan also came up in discussion during a meeting in Brussels in February, which was jointly convened by UNHCR and the European Union (EU) to discuss future policy options for Afghans living in the neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Iran.

Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans fleeing conflict in their country for over a quarter of a century. But there has never been any comprehensive registration for those Afghan nationals arriving in Pakistan since the Soviet invasion in December 1979.

The Pakistan government, with financial and technical support from UNHCR, has recently completed a countrywide census of Afghans living in the country since 1979. The results of the census are likely to be made public by the end of April.
"The outcome of the census will help in discussions towards identifying management arrangements for the Afghan population that will be in Pakistan at the end of the tripartite agreement in next March [2006]," Redden said.

With an improvement in weather conditions, the number of Afghans repatriating to Afghanistan under the UNHCR-assisted voluntary repatriation programme is on rise. "More than 1,600 individuals of about 297 families have repatriated in the last 10 days since the programme resumed on 7 March," the UNHCR official said.

The UN Refugee agency has assisted some 2.3 million Afghans to repatriate from Pakistan since the programme started in 2002, under a tripartite agreement between the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNHCR. In 2002, about 1.6 million Afghans returned to their homeland, while around 343,000 went back in 2003 and nearly 383,600 Afghans repatriated last year. The UN Refugee Agency expects some 400,000 Afghans to return this year.

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