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UNHCR assists 1,151 Afghan refugees to voluntarily return from camps in northern Pakistan

April 23, 2004

23 April, (UNHCR) The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) repatriated 1,151 refugees from Naryab, Doaba, Thal and Oblang refugee camps in Kohat, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on April 22 to Afghanistan's Khost, Paktya and Logar provinces.

Among the numbers 875 returning Afghans were the first group to return from that region of northern Pakistan under the Facilitated Group Repatriation (FGR) initiative jointly run by UNHCR and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The returning refugees were from 232 families, including 153 families from Naryab refugee camp, which is being closed by the Government to make way for the construction of a dam and who were first warned about the impending earthworks two years ago.

Under the group return initiative, UNHCR identifies families intending to return to the same location in Afghanistan but could not do so because of a problem impeding their repatriation. The problem is relayed to UNHCR staff in Afghanistan for assessment. If solvable, UNHCR Afghanistan initiates work and after completion relays a message so that the refugees can return back.

The repatriation of Afghan refugees this week all indicated that they felt that they could successfully reintegrate back in their homeland.

"We preferred to repatriate voluntary to take part in re-building our country," said Yousaf, one of the group leaders leaving for Khost. "Afghanistan is our homeland, the sooner we return the better it would be."

"There is no war in my area, and I am also satisfied with the peace and condition of my region," he said.

"We wanted to repatriate two years ago but due to some problems in our area of origin, we could not return" said another leader of group Haji Awal Khan. "Now UNHCR Afghanistan solved the problems like shelter, water and other needs that were hindering our return," he explained.

"I preferred to repatriate instead of constructing another house in Pakistan because the Government of Pakistan had been building a dam near Naryab Camp, in NWFP, and more over it is not my own country" said Haji Ayub, leader of 20 families leaving for Khost, Afghanistan. "We are also grateful for the hospitality of the people of Pakistan" said Ayub.

UNHCR has assisted nearly 68,000 Afghans to repatriate from Pakistan since the refugee agency's 2004 repatriation programme opened in March. So far more than 38,000 refugees have returned from NWFP, 12,000 from Balochistan, some 9,000 from Sindh and more than 9,000 from Punjab and Islamabad.

Another 53 Afghan families consisting of 276 individuals returned to Afghanistan from Thall and Oblang camps in Kohat, NWFP, back to Logar province in Afghanistan.

UNHCR repatriation mobile teams registered, verified and conducted Iris Validation Test in which one eye is photographed with a digital camera in order to process families for repatriation to Afghanistan.

All refugees over the age of six years must go through computerized iris test. The Iris scan can verify immediately if a refugee has previously received UNHCR assistance before, preventing individuals from claiming assistance a second time.

On arrival in Afghanistan refugees receive a travel grant, which varies from $3 to $30 depending on the distance, plus $8 per head instead of the package of food and non-food items like household utensils that was given in previous years. Families who dismantle their houses in Pakistan and take the structural poles home receive additional $5.

In the coming weeks more groups of refugees are expected from this area to repatriate to Khost and Paktya provinces.

"This is a sign of confidence among the Afghan refugees towards the ongoing reconstruction programmes in their areas of origin" said Richard Nduala, UNHCR Associate Repatriation Officer in Peshawar.

Under the voluntary repatriation programme, UNHCR has assisted almost 2 million Afghans to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan since the fall of the Taliban and has made provisions to assist up to more than 400,000 return home this year.

Media Contact: Asif Shahzad, Mobile: 0300 532 2724