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More than 18,000 Afghans return home from Pakistan since start of March
23 Mar 2007 With the recent completion of the registration of Afghans in Pakistan, the government has reiterated that unregistered Afghans will be subject to national laws. More than 18,000 have so far opted for assisted repatriation during the grace period of March 1 to April 15. -
Q&A: Afghan journalist pushes boundaries through airwaves
16 Mar 2007 Farishta Sheikhani is a young Afghan journalist seeking to break traditional boundaries of nationality and gender through her work in Pakistan. She works as a journalist with the Internews agency and as a disc jockey at Radio Buraq, the first Pakistani FM station to conduct programmes for the Afghan community in their own language. -
At the crossroads in Pakistan, first Afghans lead the way home
2 Mar 2007 The UN refugee agency has resumed its voluntary return operation for the sixth year, but it is not business as usual. Among other factors, a recently-concluded registration of Afghan citizens in Pakistan has changed the equation for the Afghan population. -
Top UNHCR official outlines options for camp closure in Pakistan
21 Feb 2007 On her first visit to Pakistan as head of UNHCR's Asia-Pacific Bureau, Janet Lim urged Afghans in the soon-to-be-closed Katchagari camp to accept the government decision and assured them the refugee agency would try its best to provide options through voluntary repatriation and relocation within Pakistan. -
Pakistan, Afghanistan finalise camp closure plans
7 Feb 2007 Four Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan's border provinces will be closed this year as part of bilateral plans to manage the Afghan population in Pakistan. The decision was reached at the 12th Tripartite Commission meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. -
Pakistan registers 2 million Afghans, exercise nears completion
2 Feb 2007 More than 80 percent of the estimated 2.4 million Afghans in Pakistan have been registered in a government campaign that has made every effort to accommodate a protracted and complex population. -
Afghan brick-makers seek break from bonded labour
20 Dec 2006 Thousands of Afghans work in brick kilns in Pakistan's Punjab province, toiling away from dawn to dusk to meet construction demands. Despite the harsh conditions, many of them are unable to repatriate because they are indebted to the kiln owners - a situation UNHCR is hoping to change. -
Shuras urge more to come forward as Pakistan registers 1 million Afghans
19 Dec 2006 Pakistan registers a landmark one million Afghans in the country, but the figure represents only around 40 percent of the target population. UNHCR and the authorities are using traditional meetings to encourage more eligible Afghans to register before the exercise ends on December 31. -
New study highlights key reintegration challenges in Afghanistan
5 Dec 2006 A new study on the integration of returnees into the Afghan labour market has found a generally positive situation in the country, but highlights concerns about its future absorption capacity.