ISLAMABAD, March 1: The United Nations High Commissio-ner for Refugees (UNHCR) is resuming voluntary repatriation of more than two million Afghan refugees from tomorrow (Sunday).
The refugee agency had stopped the repatriation process at the onset of winter in October 2007.
November, December, Janua-ry and February have been declared as winter break for repatriation of refugees because there is severe cold in Afghanistan during this period and Afghans avoid movement unless extremely necessary.
According to the UNHCR, there are more than two million Afghan refugees living in different camps in Pakistan. These camps are located in Dir, Chitral, Mianwali and Jalozai near Peshawar.
All these refugees are registered with the refugee agency and they possess the valid Proof of Registration Card (PoR) provided to them by the Pakistani government.
Apart from this, there are also Afghan refugees who have not been registered. They don’t possess the PoR and so their stay in Pakistan is considered illegal, a spokesman for the refugee agency said.
The UNHCR and the government have no data of these refugees.
The agency has also declared that it will not support the return of unregistered Afghans.
