Unhcr Figures: 1.6m Afghan refugees in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is hosting almost 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees — the largest protracted refugee population globally — according to an official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Since 2002, the UN refugee agency had facilitated the return of 3.8 million registered Afghans from Pakistan. To complement the UNHCR and partners’ international support, the government of Pakistan has extended Afghan refugees’ Proof of Registration (PoR) cards until the end of 2015, issued birth certificates for 800,000 Afghan refugee children, provided land for several refugee villages, and given refugees access to public schools and health clinics, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2015.