The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday it had so far facilitated the repatriation of over 56,000 registered Afghan refugees from Pakistan in 2015.
Talking to media in Islamabad, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said the UNHCR under its longest running voluntary return programme facilitated the return of around four million registered Afghans from Pakistan since 2012.
Despite the return of such a large number of refugees, Pakistan is still hosting almost 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees, the largest protracted refugee population in the world, he said.
Responding to a question, Guterres said the validity of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards issued to Afghan refugees has been extended from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2017.
