ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have decided to temporarily postpone the commencement of the ‘Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise’ (Drive) for Afghan refugees in view of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The card renewal and verification exercise was to begin on Thursday (today).

The Pakistan government and the UN agency remained committed to the Drive exercise, which will be undertaken as soon as conditions permit, the UNHCR announced on Wednesday.

Afghan refugees holding ‘Proof of Reg­i­s­tration’ cards with an expiry date of Dec­ember 2015 will be informed about the commencement of the exercise in due course.

Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021