IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Refugee returns approach 10,000 this year
4 April 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

KABUL, 4 April (IRIN) - Around 9,000 Afghan refugees have returned from 
Pakistan and Iran since the United Nations-assisted voluntary 
repatriation programme resumed last month, the office of the United 
Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR) has said.

The UN refugee agency estimates that in 2006 some 400,000 people may 
return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and around 200,000 from Iran. Last 
year the agency assisted more than 500,000 Afghans to return home, of 
whom 440,000 came from Pakistan and the remaining 60,000 from Iran.

"We are providing a travel grant ranging from US $4 to $37 per person 
for each returning Afghan, depending on the distance to their 
destination. They also receive a cash grant of $12 each to meet their 
immediate needs upon return," Nader Farhad, UNHCR's spokesman in Kabul, 
said on Monday.

Since the UN refugee agency began its voluntary repatriation programme 
to Afghanistan in 2002, more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees have 
returned - the vast majority from Pakistan and Iran, where the largest 
number of Afghans live.

The current agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR that 
governs voluntary repatriation was scheduled to expire in March but has 
been extended to December 2006.

More than 2.7 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since 2002, 
while an estimated 2 million remain. At least 900,000 Afghans are still 
estimated to be in Iran.

Many Afghans still living in neighbouring countries remain reluctant to 
return, citing lack of housing, jobs and security as the main reasons 
for staying put.

UNHCR in Afghanistan is trying to address some of these issues. "We are 
planning to help build some 19,000 housing units for vulnerable Afghan 
returnees across the country during 2006," Farhad explained.

Since 2002, the UN agency has assisted in the construction of more than 
150,000 housing units for returnees from both Pakistan and Iran mainly 
in rural areas of Afghanistan, said Farhad.


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