U N I T E D  N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
AFGHANISTAN: UNHCR reports record repatriation
21 march 2002


ISLAMBAD, 21 March (IRIN) - UNHCR officials in Pakistan on Thursday
reported a record number of Afghans voluntarily repatriating from the
country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) this month. An estimated
80,000 Afghans have registered for repatriation at the Takhtabaig
voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) since the programme began on 1 March -
a number equal to the annual repatriation rate in the late 1990s.

"This has gone beyond our expectations," UNHCR spokeswoman, Melita Sunjic
told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad." We never had such a large
scale repatriation for Afghan refugees as conditions inside the country
have never been conducive enough," she explained. On Wednesday alone,
14,000 refugees were registered and agency staff were still working on a
backlog of people wanting to return, she maintained.

It is precisely that enthusiasm for going home that brought about the
temporary suspension of operations at the centre on the same day. Due to
security concerns and a huge queue of impatient returnees, UNHCR and
Pakistani authorities jointly agreed to temporarily halt operations until
after the Muharam holidays. The security situation is traditionally
problematic during the holy month of Muharam and security forces were
needed elsewhere, Sunjic noted.

With the turnout so high, the number of registration staff at the centre
have already been doubled to more than 50 to meet the demand. Takhtabaig,
16 km west of the provincial capital Peshawar and the first of seven such
centres to open in Pakistan, has a capacity to process 1,000 families a
day, providing water, sanitation facilities and medical care.

Prior to the suspension, up to 1,800 families had been registering daily
and on Wednesday, 3,000 families were registered. Such demand led to water
shortages, traffic jams, long waiting hours and security problems.

In a statement on Tuesday, UNHCR representative in Pakistan, Hasim Utkan,
said it was only prepared to carry out the operation under maximum
security conditions. During the closure, UNHCR will be enlarging the
facility to increase its capacity. Additionally, preparations to open
another registration centre in Nawa Pass, north of Peshawar were well
underway, it added. "This will be a smaller operation, but will relieve
some of the pressure on Takhtabaig," Sunjic maintained. As for when
Takhtabaig's would reopen, she explained: "The moment we have enough
security on the spot, we will resume operations."

Upon registering at a VRC in Pakistan, the returning families make their
way back to Afghanistan via transport they organise themselves. On arrival
at a corresponding UNHCR encashment centre inside the country - currently
operating in Mohmandar in eastern Afghanistan and the southern city of
Kandahar - families with less than five members receive US $20 per person
to offset travel expenses, while families of five or more will receive US
$100 for the whole family.

Additional assistance awaits the refugees in their place of origin with
UNHCR establishing assistance distribution centres in each Afghan
province. Of the 32 planned, seven are currently in operation. Included in
the assistance package is 150 kg of wheat per family, as well as blankets,
plastic sheeting and other non-food related items.

But repatriation from Pakistan will continue even during the temporary
closure of Takhtabaig. UNHCR Peshawar has a list of 12,000 individuals
from NWFP who applied for repatriation and have been waiting for the
operation to start.

Asked what measures were being taken to expand its capacity, Sunjik said
the situation would be further improved with the establishment of a way
station near the border with Afghanistan. "This will allow Afghans a safe
place to spend the night before proceeding into Afghanistan," she
explained.

Additionally, mobile registration teams were visiting refugee camps in
NWFP and Baluchistan and an additional VRC would be opening in Pakistan's
southern commercial city of Karachi, she added.

Meanwhile, in the southern province of Baluchistan, some 97 families
returned to Afghanistan on Tuesday as part of the repatriation programme.
The next scheduled date for registration there will be on 26 March.

According to the United Nations, there are some 3.7 million Afghan
refugees worldwide, including two million in Pakistan and 1.5 million in
Iran, the two largest host countries. UNHCR hopes to repatriate some
400,000 Afghans from Pakistan annually over the next five years. UNHCR
Iran is slated to begin its repatriation drive, in coordination with the
Iranian government, on 9 April.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002


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