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Afghanistan: Repatriation effort in full swing
17 April 2002


AFGHANISTAN: Repatriation effort in full swing

ISLAMABAD, 17 April (IRIN) - Twin efforts to assist hundreds of thousands
of Afghans repatriate from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran - the two
countries hosting the largest number of Afghan refugees - were in full
swing on Wednesday with the number returning fast approaching 300,000. The
joint voluntary repatriation programmes, between the office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Pakistani and
Iranian governments, aim to assist 800,000 Afghans return to their
homeland this year.

"As of Tuesday evening we had 267,572 just from Pakistan," a UNHCR
spokeswoman, Melita Sunjic, told IRIN from the western Pakistani border
town of Peshawar. "At that speed, I expect we could surpass 300,000 by
this weekend," she maintained. The programme, which began on 1 April, has
met unprecedented enthusiasm from Afghans wanting to take advantage of an
assistance package including both food and non-food items, as well as a
small cash grant.

"Our capacity has increased every day as more mobile registration teams
take to the roads," Sunjic said. Up to 15 such teams are currently
operating in Pakistan's major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad,
Peshawar and Quetta. These are in addition to the already established four
voluntary registration centres (VRCs) - three in North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) and one in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

"Operations are going smoothly," she said. "On our largest day we
succeeded in registering more than 14,000 at our Takhtabaig VRC," she
explained. Takhtabaig, 16 km west from Peshawar, is the first and
currently the largest VRC in operation.

Meanwhile in Iran, UNHCR, which began a similar repatriation drive on 9
April, reported as of Tuesday that 4,979 Afghans had participated in the
programme so far.  While numbers were initially low - beginning with 146
on the first day - on Sunday, 1,588 registered for the assistance package.
"All indicators suggest the numbers are increasing," the agency's
spokesman, Mohammad Nouri, told IRIN from the Iranian capital, Tehran.
"The 400,000 planned target figure will most probably be met," he
maintained.

Returning families in Iran can register at one of nine VRCs located
throughout the country, including the cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Zahedan,
Esfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Qom, Kerman and Arak.  Upon registration, returnees
are provided transportation to Dogharun, the main crossing point along
Iran's 900-km-plus border with Afghanistan.

As for UNHCR's current capacity, Nouri said if the numbers increased,
there remained the flexibility of opening additional border crossing
points.  Earlier plans to use the Milak border crossing in Iran's
southeast Sistan-Baluchistan Province were suspended due to tension inside
Afghanistan's southwestern Nimruz Province.  "The safety and security of
the returnee is of paramount importance to us," Nouri stressed, adding
that they were advising people there either to postpone their return or to
travel via Dogharun instead.

Regarding the unique difference between the Afghan refugee population in
Iran and that of Pakistan, Nouri noted that almost 96 percent of all
Afghans in Iran - some 2.3 million - lived outside refugee camps. There
are officially 29 refugee camps in Iran today, the largest being Torbat-e
Jam in Iran's northeastern Khorasan Province - home to over 7,000 Afghans
refugees.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers is about to
arrive in Pakistan from Afghanistan.  During a meeting with the head of
the Afghan Interim Administration, Hamid Karzai, in the Afghan capital,
Kabul, on Tuesday, Lubbers emphasised the importance of reintegration of
the hundreds of thousands of Afghans returning home. "Security is
indispensable to repatriation, but more importantly, successful
reintegration will lead to stability," he said.

As for the current rate of returns, Lubbers expected this year's target
figure of 400,000 returns from Pakistan would probably be reached this
summer, while repatriation from Iran, would probably increase
substantially after a slow start. "Many of the Afghans have found jobs in
Iran, so they will take more time to make their decision before going
home. I have the impression that you will see the phenomenon of the man
going back first to inspect how it is before letting the family come
back," he said.

On Wednesday, Lubbers was scheduled to arrive in the eastern Afghan city
of Jalalabad where he would visit a camp for internally displaced people
(IDPs) at Hesar Shahi and the UNHCR encashment centre at Mohmandara, where
transportation expenses to returnees from Pakistan are being provided.
After further meetings with government officials and a tour of refugee
facilities in Peshawar, he will travel to the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad, for more talks on Friday.

His eight-day mission to the region - his third since taking office in
January 2001 - included stops in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan and will
end on Saturday.


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