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More than 50,000 Afghans leave Pakistan under UNHCR repatriation programme

April 14, 2004

ISLAMABAD, 14 April (UNHCR) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) assisted 2,437 refugees to head back to Afghanistan from Pakistan on Wednesday, raising the number of returnees to 52,305, who have gone home from Pakistan since the voluntary repatriation programme resumed last month.

"The pace and number of returns from Pakistan is very encouraging compared to March and April 2003, we are seeing double the number returning so far" said Indrika Ratwatte, Snr. Repatriation Coordinator.

UNHCR assisted 30,080 refugees to return from North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 9,214 from Balochistan, 6,019 from Sindh and 6,992 from Punjab/Islamabad.

All refugees over the age of six years must go through computerised iris tests in either Quetta, Balochistan, or Peshawar, NWFP, the two main cities before the exit point. The technology identifies anyone who has previously received assistance, preventing abuse of the UNHCR funds available to help returning Afghans.

Refugees then return to Afghanistan by the border exit points at Chaman for Balochistan and Torkham for NWFP. Once in Afghanistan, refugees go to UNHCR encashment centres to receive a travel grant that varies between $3 and $30 per person, depending on the distance covered, plus $8 in lieu of food assistance and some household items provided in previous years.

Under the voluntary repatriation programme, UNHCR has assisted some 1.9 million Afghans to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan since the fall of the Taliban and has made provision to assist up to 400,000 more to go home this year.

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