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UNHCR helps more than 10 percent of Karachi's Afghan population to repatriate this year

June 25, 2005

KARACHI, Pakistan, 25 June (UNHCR) - The UN Refugee Agency said on Saturday it had assisted more than 10 percent of the remaining Afghan population in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi to voluntarily repatriate to Afghanistan so far this year.

The total number of Afghans returning from Karachi this year reached 15,000 as the Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind said goodbye to 600 Afghans returning to Afghanistan in a ceremony at the UNHCR registration centre in Songal on Saturday morning.

"I am here to say goodbye to my Afghan brothers who have decided to go back to Afghanistan. In your country you will be joining millions of other Afghans who have gone home during last years and are helping to rebuild their country. Government and the people of Pakistan have always tried to help our Afghan brothers and sisters in need and we will continue doing this till their dignified return to their homeland," said Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind.

A Government of Pakistan census, assisted by UNHCR, earlier this year counted more than 3 million Afghans in Pakistan who had arrived since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Of this number 135,734 were living in Karachi and other areas of Sindh province.

"UNHCR teams have been visiting Afghans throughout Karachi and other cities of Sindh to assist those who have decided to repatriate from the province," Kazuhiro Kaneko, head of the UNHCR office in Karachi, said at departure ceremony. "The numbers are lower than in previous years, reflecting the falling Afghan population here."

Kaneko said the office operated one registration centre in Karachi and was also sending mobile teams to other areas of Sindh where Afghans wishing to return to Afghanistan could receive UNHCR repatriation assistance.

According to the recent census, the majority of Karachi's Afghan population are ethnic Pashtun while Tajiks are the second largest group. A large proportion of the population originates from Kunduz and Baghlan provinces of Afghanistan. Afghans in Karachi live mostly from daily wage work, providing cheap labour to Pakistan's business capital.

The voluntary repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan is governed by a tripartite agreement signed in 2003 between the governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR that expires in March 2006. A decision on what will follow the present agreement is expected later this year.

Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR Assistant Representative for Durable Solutions said, "The returns from Karachi and other parts of Sind are an encouraging sign of the willingness of Afghans to return and rebuild their country."

Under the agreement, more than 2.4 million Afghans have so far been assisted to voluntarily repatriate to Afghanistan. UNHCR expects around 400,000 will return during 2005.

Afghans returning home under the programme are entitled to receive from $3 to $30 as a travel grant depending on the distance to the destination and an additional $12 each to help them re-establish in Afghanistan. The assistance is paid inside Afghanistan at encashment centers near returnee destinations.

Returning Afghans, above the age of six, have to go through an iris test at UNHCR centres in Hayatabad Peshawar and Baleli Quetta to get the assistance. The iris test, introduced in late 2002, ensures returnees receive assistance only once.

Agha Jan Akhtar, Project Director Afghan Refugee Repatriation Cell (ARRC) in Karachi, said, "Pakistan has hosted Afghan brethren for more than quarter of a century and it is heartening to know that positive developments in Afghanistan are paving way for their return with honour."

Since the start of the UNHCR voluntary repatriation in 2002 around 253,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Karachi and other parts of Sindh.