December 9, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 4,1423

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PESHAWAR, Dec 8: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has completed its re-registration of Afghans living in nine refugee camps in the NWFP, a press release issued on Sunday said.

It said that the exercise carried out between Nov 29 and Dec 2 by more than 400 staff of UNHCR, the UN World Food Programme, the government of Pakistan and non-governmental organizations, verified the number of refugees who qualify for food aid and gathered a range of vital information on subjects that included the intention to return to Afghanistan.

It was revealed during the exercise that the number of refugees in the nine camps who would continue to receive food distributions had been reduced by 14.3 per cent from the previous level. Now the total was 46,943 refugees in 5,667 families, down from 54,767 people previously.

The  re-registration, which involved issuing  new  cards entitling holders to food and non-food assistance, found errors in the existing lists because of unreported departures from the camps, deaths and abuses such as the holding of multiple ration cards.

The data collected while re-registering refugees included details on family composition, levels of education and other information needed to plan continuing assistance to the refugees. It also identified vulnerable refugees who would need special protection. The analysis of this material would be completed by the end of December, the press release added.