Over 70,000 Afghans return home

The number of refugees voluntarily returning home to Afghanistan, in 2010, reached the 70,000 mark this week.

According to a press release by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with two and a half months of the peak repatriation period still to run, this year’s overall figure could reach over 130,000 – more than double of last year’s annual total.

“Despite security constraints and challenging socio-economic conditions in Afghanistan, the voluntary repatriation of 70,000 Afghans demonstrates that many refugees are confident that there are opportunities available to return sustainably to their homeland,” said Mr. Mengeshe Kebede UNHCR’s Representative in Pakistan.

The pace of returns has increased markedly in recent weeks averaging at 806 individuals per day in June. Since the resumption of the large-scale repatriation operations in March 2002, repatriation trends have generally peaked between the months of May and August.

Over the past few months, returning refugees have cited economic factors and the difficult security situation in Pakistan, coupled with local improvements in security and employment opportunities in some provinces of Afghanistan, as the key reasons behind their return.

Speaking on the occasion of World Refugee Day in Kabul, the Afghan Acting Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Engineer Abdul Rahim said, “It’s important to recall that there are still 2.7 million refugees registered with the authorities remaining in Iran and Pakistan. Continuing donor support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development programmes is needed to attract more refugees back home in future.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2010.