• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%
  • Also available in French

Pakistan: Afghan registration starts

Briefing Notes, 13 October 2006

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 13 October 2006, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

This weekend, the government of Pakistan will start the first-ever registration of Afghan citizens in Pakistan. The exercise runs from October 15 to December 31, and aims to provide Afghans in Pakistan with official identification that is valid for three years.

Pakistan hosts one of the largest groups of refugees in the world, with 1 million Afghans living in camps and over 1.4 million in urban areas. This registration will be the biggest ever of its kind involving UNHCR.

The registration exercise is a follow-up to the 2005 census of Afghans who had arrived in Pakistan after 1 December 1979 to escape the Soviet invasion of their homeland. The government has stated that only Afghans included in the census can take part in the registration.

The 10-week exercise is conducted by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority, NADRA. UNHCR and government officials are supporting and monitoring the process, which involves taking the Afghans' biodata, digital photographs and fingerprints.

Registered Afghans will receive a 'proof of registration' card that is valid for three years and recognises the bearer as an Afghan citizen temporarily living in Pakistan. It does not confer any additional rights or status.

The registration will give us a clear profile of the Afghans who remain in Pakistan – not all of them refugees – after more than 2.8 million Afghans repatriated in the last five years. The information collected (areas of origin, education and skill levels, special needs and intention to return) will help UNHCR and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to find durable solutions to this protracted situation. It reflects UNHCR's efforts to develop proactive strategies to address issues linked to long-term situations of asylum, migration and mixed population flows.

Meanwhile, yesterday (Thursday), UNHCR sent off the year's last return convoys from Pakistan to Afghanistan, ending a repatriation season that has seen more than 132,000 Afghans return from Pakistan with UNHCR assistance. Repatriation from Pakistan will resume next March with new arrangements tied to the 'proof of registration' card.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related stories by:

UNHCR country pages

Revised Supplementary Appeal for UNHCR's Emergency Assistance to Flood-Affected Populations in Pakistan

August 2010

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.

Rebuilding Lives in Afghanistan

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.

Afghanistan: Rebuilding a War-Torn Country

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

Home Without Land

Afghanistan: Mariam's StoryPlay video

Afghanistan: Mariam's Story

Mariam was a refugee in Iran for six years. The widow and mother returned in 2002 and has been internally displaced ever since. Her situation is very uncertain.
Pakistan: Flood Relief Play video

Pakistan: Flood Relief

Floods in Pakistan have ruined crops and destroyed homes. The rains have ended but displaced people will need help for weeks or months to come.
Pakistan: The Floods Return Play video

Pakistan: The Floods Return

Flooding has returned to Pakistan, forcing people to flee their homes for the second year in a row. A year after his wife died in floodwaters, Obhayo Babar is on the move again.