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Tripartite meeting on returns to Afghanistan

Briefing Notes, 10 October 2006

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 10 October 2006, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Iran, Afghanistan and UNHCR yesterday began two days of discussions here in Geneva on voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan. High Commissioner António Guterres, Minister of the Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Pour Mohammadi, and Minister for Refugees and Repatriation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr. Mohammad Akbar Akbar opened the 11th Tripartite Commission Meeting on Voluntary Repatriation to Afghanistan. Monday's meeting was attended by leading donor countries and international organisations, and will continue today at the working level.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Guterres paid tribute to the exceptional solidarity and generosity of the government and people of Iran for hosting refugees for more than a quarter of a century. He also commended the government and people of Afghanistan for their continuing courage and resilience.

Following the Tripartite Commission meeting, the High Commissioner and Minister Pour Mohammadi held bilateral talks, which included prospects for further repatriation, reintegration needs inside Afghanistan, protection concerns, and assistance interventions. A Joint Project was signed on a range of assistance projects aimed at improving skills through vocational training programmes and providing education and medical assistance for the remaining Afghans in Iran. Copies of the Joint Statement issued by the High Commissioner and the Minister are available at the back of the room.

Mr. Pour Mohammadi was visiting Geneva upon an invitation extended by the High Commissioner during his visit to Iran in November last year. As Minister of the Interior, Mr. Pour Mohammadi oversees the Bureau for Alien and Foreign Immigrant Affairs (BAFIA), which is UNHCR's main interlocutor.

For more than a quarter of a century Iran has hosted one of the largest ever populations of refugees, and today still hosts some 920,000 registered Afghans and 54,000 Iraqis. Since 2002 over 1.5 million Afghans have returned home from Iran, 850,000 with UNHCR's assistance. An additional 200,000 Iraqis have also been repatriated since the 2003 change of regime in Iraq. This year's returns from Iran has been the lowest in years, to just over 4,500 until September 2006. Some 155,000 Afghans have returned spontaneously outside the voluntary repatriation framework.

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Rebuilding Lives in Afghanistan

With elections scheduled in October, 2004 is a crucial year for the future of Afghanistan, and Afghans are returning to their homeland in record numbers. In the first seven months of 2004 alone, more than half a million returned from exile. In all, more than 3.6 million Afghans have returned since UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme started in 2002.

The UN refugee agency and its partner organisations are working hard to help the returnees rebuild their lives in Afghanistan. Returnees receive a grant to cover basic needs, as well as access to medical facilities, immunisations and landmine awareness training.

UNHCR's housing programme provides tool kits and building supplies for families to build new homes where old ones have been destroyed. The agency also supports the rehabilitation of public buildings as well as programmes to rehabilitate the water supply, vocational training and cash-for-work projects.

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Afghanistan: Rebuilding a War-Torn Country

The cycle of life has started again in Afghanistan as returnees put their shoulders to the wheel to rebuild their war-torn country.

Return is only the first step on Afghanistan's long road to recovery. UNHCR is helping returnees settle back home with repatriation packages, shelter kits, mine-awareness training and vaccination against diseases. Slowly but surely, Afghans across the land are reuniting with loved ones, reconstructing homes, going back to school and resuming work. A new phase in their lives has begun.

Watch the process of return, reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction unfold in Afghanistan through this gallery.

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Home Without Land

Land is hot property in mountainous Afghanistan, and the lack of it is a major reason Afghans in exile do not want to return.

Although landless returnees are eligible for the Afghan government's land allocation scheme, demand far outstrips supply. By the end of 2007, the authorities were developing 14 settlements countrywide. Nearly 300,000 returnee families had applied for land, out of which 61,000 had been selected and 3,400 families had actually moved into the settlements.

Desperate returnees sometimes have to camp in open areas or squat in abandoned buildings. Others occupy disputed land where aid agencies are not allowed to build permanent structures such as wells or schools.

One resilient community planted itself in a desert area called Tangi in eastern Afghanistan. With help from the Afghan private sector and the international community, water, homes, mosques and other facilities have sprouted – proof that the right investment and commitment can turn barren land into the good earth.

Posted on 31 January 2008

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