Islamabad—Government of Pakistan, United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR and Afghanistan have signed an agreement of extending the stay of 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan till December 31, 2012.The agreement was signed in 19th meeting of the Tripartite Commission comprising Pakistan, UNHCR and Afghanistan at a local hotel in Lahore yesterday, says a press release here on Saturday.Federal Minister for State & Frontier Region (SAFRON) Najum-ud-Din Khan,UNHCR Country Head for Afghanistan Mr. Ewen Mcleod and Afghanistan Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Engineer Abdul Rahim attended the meeting.Federal Minister for SAFRON Najum-ud-Din Khan briefing the media said that as many as 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees would be facilitated for their voluntarily return to Afghanistan.He said that earlier in 2003, an agreement was signed with the Afghan government and UNHCR for the return of refugees which was expired in December 2009.
The Minister added that following the current agreement, the refugees living in various parts of the country would gradually return to Afghanistan and US$ 100 per head would be handed while the Afghan government would also provide them with shelter and other facilities there.Najum-ud-Din Khan said,the Pakistan government was committed to provide continued protection to those refugees who could not return safely to Afghanistan according to the Pakistan’s strategy.He said that three parties have reaffirmed the commitment to the return of Afghans in conditions of safety and dignity.To a question, the Federal Minister told that government already started verification of the Afghans who had got NADRA ID cards and 80,000 were cancelled so far. He added that a committee was formed to expedite the process of repatriation of 500,000 refugees till the end of this year.During the meeting, three stakeholders also took note of Pakistan’s strategy for the management of the stay of refugees and all were agreed to extend cooperation regarding VISA and border management issues.Afghan Minister Engineer Abdul Rahim thanked the Pakistan Government for its hospitality to the refugees for a long time.“Afghan government is pleased to extend this agreement which demonstrate the continued generosity of the government and people of Pakistan,” he observed.The UNHCR head told that since March 2010, a total 36,000 and from 2002 as many as 3.6 million refugees were repatriated to Afghanistan.
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