Afghan refugees: Rs66m being spent to meet monthly expenditure

Rs 40m is being incurred by the UNHCR to meet the monthly expenditure of more than 2 million Afghan refugees.

ISLAMABAD:

An amount of Rs 40 million is being incurred by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to meet the monthly expenditure of more than two million Afghan refugees present in Pakistan. Additionally, the Pakistan government is spending Rs26 million on these refugees.

According to the data collected by National Database and Registration Authority between August 18, 2010 to March 31, 2011, around 2.052 million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan.

An official said that 1.201 million Afghan refugees are living in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 0.491 million in Balochistan, 0.091 million in Sindh, 0.228 million in Punjab and 0.041 million in Islamabad Capital Territory. He said that under a tripartite agreement between Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR, the repatriation of Afghan refugees on voluntary basis would be completed by December 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.