Dignified repatriation: Body to document Afghan refugees

K-P governor assures Pakistan govt’s full support to Afghan regime

PESHAWAR: Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to devise a methodology for documentation of unregistered Afghan refugees in the country. The methodology will be worked out by a NADRA committee, commissionerate for Afghan refugees and the ministry of refugees and repatriation.

The decision was made during a meeting led by Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan with a nine-member delegation headed by Afghan Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Sayed Hussain Alimi Balkhi in Peshawar on Monday.

The K-P governor assured Pakistan’s full support to the Afghan government and internal organisations in dignified repatriation of the Afghan refugees back to their home country, said a handout issued by the Governor House.



He said no crackdown will be launched against the registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan. However, due to security concerns in the present circumstances, action will be taken against the unregistered Afghans in the country.

For the documentation of the unregistered Afghan refugees, a committee comprising representatives of Nadra, Commissionerate for Afghan refugees, Pakistan and ministry for refugees and repatriation, Afghanistan will devise a proper and possible plan for their registration.

The Afghan minister appreciated the Pakistan government and people for hosting Afghan refugees for decades, saying the Ghani government has an appropriate plan for the dignified repatriation of Afghans.

The meeting was attended by K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch, K-P Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan and K-P police chief Nasir Khan Durrani.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.