Fifth season of UN-assisted return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan under way
The United Nation refugee agency's fifth season of assisted returns to Afghanistan from Pakistan, expected to reach 400,000 this year, has begun amid some uncertainty and indecision among refugees.
A total of 77 Afghans were repatriated in the first three days of the operation that began last Wednesday in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) final year of voluntary repatriation under the current tripartite agreement with the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The operation had been suspended over winter, when the number of people returning to Afghanistan typically dwindles.
“As in previous years, repatriation starts slowly in March. Parts of Afghanistan are still too cold to return to at this time of the year. The pace peaks in May, June and July,” UNHCR repatriation officer Robert Friedman said.
The Tripartite Agreement was set to expire in March but was extended till December and UNHCR is negotiating with the two governments on new return arrangements beyond 2006, possibly shifting from individual travel assistance to area-based reintegration assistance. The result of negotiations will have a direct impact on undecided Afghans.
More than 2.7 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan under UNHCR's assisted repatriation operation since 2002. With some 450,000 returning last year, 2.6 million are believed to remain in the country.
UNHCR has also assisted in returns from Iran, from where 1.3 million Afghans have repatriated. Some 900,000 Afghans are still estimated to be in Iran.