PESHAWAR: Following suspension of the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to their country for four months, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced the repatriation process to resume from April 3 this year, ARY News reported.
Each returnee will be granted $200 under individual assistance package by the United Nation’s refugee agency.
Eleven thousand refugees have been registered so far in Khyber Pakthunkhwa who are opting to return to Afghanistan.
Two repatriation centres have been established in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure safe return of Afghan refugees.
According to the UNHCR’s statistics, 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees were residing in Pakistan, out of which 3,65,000 have returned to their homeland by end of 2016 before suspension in the repatriation process.
The statistics further revealed that there are around one million undocumented Afghans staying in Pakistan out of which 2,00,000 have returned to their homes.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is adhere to refoulement law, according to which the government couldn’t force refugees and asylum seekers to return to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution.
