Ministry of States and Frontier Regions has announced that over 3.9 million Afghan refugees have been voluntarily repatriated during last thirteen years.
As per details here on Sunday, during current year (till October 15), around 55,604 individuals registered Afghan refugees have been repatriated while there are at present 1.53 million registered and estimated one million un-documented Afghans living in Pakistan.
The repatriation of registered Afghan citizens is guided by principle of voluntarism as embedded in Tripartite Agreement signed between governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) valid up to 31 December.
As per Federal Cabinet decision taken on 25 July 2013, the Afghan refugees having valid Proof of Registration (PoR) cards can stay in Pakistan till 31 December. However, in 25th Tripartite Commission meeting held in Islamabad on 11 March, the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan along with UNHCR have reaffirmed their commitment for engagement and coordination for devising a joint comprehensive policy envisaging voluntary returns.
The said policy will be finalized soon and will be submitted to Federal Cabinet for further guidelines and approval.
