Legal stay: Govt announces six-month extension for Afghan refugees

There are around 1.56 million registered Afghan refugees in the country, out of which one million reside in K-P.

LAHORE:

The federal government has officially announced a six-month extension for Afghan refugees to legally stay in Pakistan.

According to an official circular, the government has also extended a tripartite agreement on the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees, between Islamabad, Kabul and the UNCHR for six months up to June 30, 2013.

The prime minister approved the extension in December last year, following which the provincial governments were updated. For its part, the Punjab home department has brought into the loop the police in its cities and bureaucrats running the divisions and districts.  There are around 1.56 million registered Afghan refugees in the country, out of which one million reside in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In the past few years, nearly seven million refugees have willingly returned to their homeland.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2013.