ISLAMABAD, May 14: The National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday signed an agreement that will for the first time permit non-Afghan refugees to obtain a legal status guaranteeing rights, including the permission to work.

According to a press release, the agreement was signed by the UNHCR representative in Pakistan, Hasim Utkan, and Nara Director-General Mohammad Saleem Khan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Utkan said freedom of movement, protection against arbitrary arrest and the right to seek employment of the refugees would be guaranteed under the agreement.

The agreement will legalize the status of the non-Afghan refugees and allow them to get work permits. Nara will protect the registered refugees against punishment and deportation.

The agreement, under which all those over the age of 18 are able to receive work permits, will be reviewed after three months. During this period such refugees would be registered.

Under the agreement, the UNHCR will work with the Savera Counselling Services, which provides assistance to the non-Afghan refugees to ensure they are registered with Nara, which will provide them identification cards and work permits, paid for by the UN agency.

“Once their details are recorded, we can see their requirements in various sectors of the society,” said Saleem Khan. The card would provide them a sort of security, he said.

He said although Pakistan was not a party to the 1951 and 1967 international agreements on refugees, it had accepted the UNHCR decisions on refugees and allowed them to remain until a long-term solution to their problems was found. However, the lack of work permits meant the UNHCR had to support the refugees, sometimes for years.

In March, 212 non-Afghan refugees received UNHCR financial assistance, the press release said. It said they had been accorded refugee status after individual assessments by the UNHCR. Of the 1,000 such people, 37 per cent were Somalis, 23 per cent Iraqis and 24 per cent Iranians, it said.

It said about 600 such refugees were in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, 150 in Peshawar, 100 in Quetta and 150 in areas.