ISLAMABAD: The UN High Commi­ssioner for Refu­gees (UNHCR) has said that 10,800 Afghans, potentially in need of international protection, have approached the UN refugee agency in Pakistan since the start of 2021.

The Afghanistan situation report issued by the UNHCR regional bureau for Asia and Pacific says the majority of Afghan new arrivals approaching the UNHCR in Pak­istan and Iran are largely undocumented and a large majority of them interviewed by the UN agency have left Afghan­istan for security-related reasons.

The UNHCR border monitors continue to observe the attempted movement of Afghans each day towards the Pakistani border posts, some of whom are currently not able to cross due to lack of valid documentation, the report says.

Afghan nationals with documents, including passports and valid visas and tazkira holders from Kandahar, have been permitted entry into Pakistan citing medical or security reasons.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2021