PESHAWAR, Feb 8: The tripartite commission has finalised modalities for the coming massive repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, sources in the UNHCR told Dawn here on Friday.

The commission, comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), in its meetings held in Islamabad, has formally agreed to launch the long-awaited repatriation programme of Afghan refugees next month.

The repatriation programme of Afghan refugees has been hanging in balance for more than one year due to civil war, followed by prolonged dry spell in Afghanistan. In 2001 only 500 families returned voluntarily to their country from the NWFP.

According to the proposed plan, initially, the UNHCR will set up its first registration office in Takhta Baig, Khyber Agency, where the intending repatriates will register their names. The office will start registration of refugee families in the first week of March, said the UNHCR officials.

They said the agency will establish three more registration offices, including one mobile team, to enrol the refugees. Each refugee family will receive Rs6,000 and also get food assistance inside Afghanistan. The sources said the UNHCR will depute over 100 staff for the registration of the repatriates.

They said after the downfall of the Taliban government in Kabul over 124,500 Afghans — 68,092 from Balochistan and 56,408 from the NWFP and the adjoining tribal areas went back to Afghanistan. Majority of the repatriates belonged to northern and central Afghanistan.