ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: The government began on Sunday to register Afghan refugees and to provide them with official identification during their temporary stay in the country.

The government exercise, helped by the UN refugee agency, is a follow-up to the 2005 census of Afghans who fled to Pakistan after Dec 1, 1979, to escape the Soviet invasion of their homeland.

“Only Afghans included in the census can take part in the registration,” said Nayar Agha, the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees in Islamabad.

“For them, registration is mandatory and they will get a Proof of Registration (PoR) card at the end of it.”

The 10-week programme will be conducted through 90 centres supported by mobile registration vehicles across the country.

UNHCR and government officials are verifying names against the census database and monitoring the whole process.

So far, more than 4,000 Afghans had been registered in pilot exercises in Chitral and Jhang districts that started on Oct 1, the UN agency said.

“More than 2.8 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan since 2002. Another 2.5 million are believed to be still living in Pakistan,” said Indrika Ratwatte, the UNHCR’s assistant representative in Pakistan.

“Within the three years of the PoR card’s validity, we hope to be able to find more durable solutions to this protracted situation,” she said in a statement.

“Starting next March, we will introduce new repatriation arrangements tied to the PoR card to help returnees in their area of origin,” it said.—AFP