May 10, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 9: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has detected over 80,000 Afghans who tried to get Pakistani computerised national identity cards (CNICs). This was stated by Nadra Chairman Brig (retired) Saleem Ahmed Moeen while speaking at a donors conference organised by UNHCR to collect $5.2 million for the Afghan refugees’ registration project to be carried out by the authority.

Diplomats from the US, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Norway, Qatar, Germany, Kuwait, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates participated in the conference.

Mr Moeen stressed that registration of over 3.1 million Afghan refugees was a must at a time when their census had been completed. The registration process would be linked to the repatriation of Afghans and the data could also be used by the Afghan government, he added.

The Afghan government, UNHCR, the ministry of states and frontier regions (Safron) and the interior ministry had signed an MoU in February for the registration of Afghan refugees.

The project would be carried out by Nadra at a cost of $5.2 million. Money would be provided by the UNHCR.

The project would also create more than a thousand jobs. Registration process would take place in refugee camps in NWFP and Balochistan, he added.

The Nadra chairman said a pilot registration project would start in July-August while the actual one would be launched in the last quarter of the current year.

He warned that those who did not get register themselves would be considered illegal immigrants by the Pakistani government, while those who got themselves registered would be allowed a three-year stay as refugees in Pakistan.

Mr Moeen also briefed the donors about the finger print and facial recognition systems available with Nadra and the recent accomplishments of the organisation.

In her opening remarks, UNHCR’s representative Guenet Guebre Christos said more than three million Afghans were still living in Pakistan as refugees. She stressed upon the donors to help those countries financially which were still bearing the burden of Afghan refugees.

She said the project was awarded to Nadra because it was equipped with latest technology and could accomplish it within the required time frame.

Replying to a question, Gohar Ahmed Khan of Nadra said Afghans would be provided registration documents that could not be used for travel.