Refugee repatriation

Voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees has started for which centers have been established at Azakhel near Nowshera in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Quetta in Baluchistan. The  Afghan nationals who have proof of registration card are entitled to get cash financial assistance of $200 on repatriation at the UNHCR centers of Qandahar, Nagarhar and Kabul in Afghanistan. The voluntary repatriation of registered refugees was agreed in a tripartite agreement signed between Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR in Brussels in March 2003.

Last year the pace of repatriation of Afghan Refugees voluntary repatriation was slow as in all 900 families returned to Afghanistan, mostly from the camps in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.  The number Afghan families returning to their homeland from Quetta center was small. There were also complaints that refugees who get cash assistance on return to Afghanistan come back to Pakistan through not strictly monitored and manned Chaman border in Baluchistan and get settled as unregistered refugees. It makes the voluntary repatriation process a failure up to large extent. It merit mention that in the neighbouring country Iran and countries of Europe Afghan Refugees are being treated as war refugees and their movement is strictly regulated. But in Pakistan they are temporarily kept under surveillance on certain occasions but federal and provincial governments are least bothered about regulating their stay and movement as a part of national security. It is high time that a clear and firm repatriation plan is worked out for the return of Afghan nationals. In his address at the International Conference on Afghan Refugees, Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged international community for a roadmap of their repatriation.