Afghan refugees: CAR collaborates with UNHCR for key survey

Data being collected to highlight needs of those living in city

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Commissionerate Afghan Refugees (CAR), is collecting data on refugees residing in Hayatabad, Peshawar.

This is the first time CAR is conducting such a survey with financial support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While talking to The Express Tribune, Afghan Refugees Repatriation Cell Director Fazal Rabi shared CAR is conducting a door-to-door survey on the population of Afghan refugees who have been living in Hayatabad for years.

“The aim is to collect data on documented and undocumented refugees living in the city,” he said. The survey started in January and is in its final stages as almost all of Hayatabad has been covered, he said. The director added he could not share the data as of now, but only after the survey was completed. “It clearly differentiates between registered and unregistered Afghan refugees,” Rabi added, saying initially, the survey was limited to Hayatabad, but now will be extended to other parts of the province.



“This survey will help us understand the needs of refugees. We will be able to ask for seats for Afghan refugees in schools, colleges and universities in Peshawar,” he said.

Rabi also shared this survey would also disclose the status of undocumented refugees living in Hayatabad. He said the status of all refugees whose Proof of Registration (PoR) expired would be considered “illegal”.

According to a report released by CAR in October 2015, there were over 148,225 Afghan refugee families residing in 43 camps across the province. In these camps, 31,662 families were living in seven camps in Peshawar district and 14,773 families in three camps of Haripur, among other districts.

However, according to a UNHCR report issued in February, 2016, a total of 976,303 individual Afghan refugees are living in K-P in which 55% are living in host communities while 45% are living in camps. The report showed that in 2016, 371 refugees repatriated of which 192 were from camps and 179 from host communities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th,  2016.