ISLAMABAD, March 27: Pakistan, with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), would repatriate about 1.8million Afghan refugees from Pakistan in the next three years. Minister for Water, Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, States and Frontier Regions, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said this at a press conference held here on Thursday.

He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan had signed a UN-sponsored tripartite agreement in Brussels on March 17, for the voluntary repatriation of some 600,000 Afghan refugees to their homeland every year.

The UNHCR Commissioner Ruud Lubbers, Afghanistan’s Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Enayatullah Nazari and Mr Sherpao, signed the agreement.

Under the accord, the UNHCR will continue to assist voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan for three more years, starting this year, he added.

“After three years, screening of the remaining Afghan refugees will be carried out to determine who still needs protection of refugee status,” he added.

The minister informed that a six-member tripartite commission, having representation from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR had been constituted to oversee the repatriation process.

The commission, which will review the repatriation programme annually, will meet alternately in the two countries every three months.

Mr Sherpao said the programme was aimed at smoothing both repatriation of the refugees to Afghanistan and their rehabilitation in their homeland.

Responding to a question, he said that more than 1.5million Afghan refugees had been repatriated to their country during the year 2002.

He said that several donor agencies, including the UNHCR had been providing assistance to the refugees during their long stay in Pakistan.

The minister admitted that a large number of people who had gone back to Afghanistan had returned to Pakistan owing to difficult economic conditions there.

Giving details of the agreement, Mr Sherpao said the first phase of the three-year UNHCR programme was focussed on refugee camps, where an estimated 1.5million refugees lived. At least another half million Afghans are believed to be living in Pakistani cities.

Under the tripartite agreement, the three parties affirmed that “repatriation will only take place at their freely expressed wish based on their knowledge of the conditions relating to voluntary repatriation”, he added.

On the completion of the repatriation programme, the UNHCR will carry out screening “for the residual caseload to identify Afghan citizens with a continued need of international protection and distinguish them from economic migrants.”

The agreement provided for the UNHCR’s supervisory role in the programme to ensure that repatriation was voluntary and was carried out safely, guaranteeing the dignity of refugees, he added.

The minister said the Third World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan, from March 21 to 23, was attended by ministers of more than 100 countries and 2,300 participants from across the globe.—APP