Afghan refugees stay extended to June 2013

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

Minister for State and Frontier and Frontier Regions Abbas Khan Afridi informed the National Assembly on Monday that the registration of Afghan refugees and period for voluntary repatriation of the refugees has been extended till June 30. Replying to a various supplementary questions during the Question Hour, he said the repatriation package for the refugees has also been enhanced from $100 to $150 per returnee in order to encourage and motivate the Afghan refugees. Previously this amount was paid to them in Pakistan, now, Afridi said, it was being paid to them in Afghanistan to discourage re-entrance. The minister said that over 55,000 Afghan refugee families comprising 296,192 individuals (registered refugees) had been repatriated over the last four years, bringing the total repatriation to over 3.8 million since 2002. Afridi further told the NA that as many as 1.6 million Afghan refugees are registered to be in Pakistan and the Prime Minister has recently constituted a Cabinet Committee to deal with the repatriation of remaining refugees.