PESHAWAR, May 17: The Population Census Organization of the ministry of population has agreed to prepare modalities for the upcoming census of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, officials of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) said.

They said that the population ministry in collaboration with UNHCR and CAR would jointly hold refugee census across the country in September this year. Under the plan, an official said, before conducting census the organization would prepare maps of the camps and areas where refugees were residing, and design formats for collecting data about the displaced people. The UN refugee agency would finance the project.

Following the completion of the census, the government would issue fresh identity cards to Afghan refugees, according to the commissionerate officials. Under the ongoing repatriation programme, two million refugees have returned to Afghanistan from the country after the fall of Taliban government in 2001.

Approximately, Pakistan still shelters around two million Afghans refugees. An official at the Population Census Organization told Dawn on Monday that the UN refugee body and the commissionerate had been asked to provide maps and other particulars about the refugee camps across the country, including Azad Kashmir and the tribal areas.

He said that the organization would begin work on the preparation of new maps and formats in the next few days and would provide training to the commissionerate staff.

Officials said that in the first phase the authorities concerned would conduct house numbering of registered and unregistered refugees in the camps and in urban areas, and then begin the head count. The entire process would be completed within 15 days, the officials said.