Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The government is set to start the long-awaited documentation of nearly one million unregistered Afghan nationals in the country, officials said on Thursday.

Pakistan continues to host approximately 1.45 million registered refugees, who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards to stay in the country by the end of this year, according to the UN refugee agency. In addition to them, one million are unregistered and the government wants to collect their comprehensive data.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch and National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Usman Mobeen. According to the MoU, the process could start in three months after NADRA establishes counters across the country and installs hardware as well as a mechanism for the massive campaign. “The documentation process will be complete in 10 months,” Baloch told reporters after the signing of the agreement in Islamabad.

Security is one of the main reasons behind plan for documentation of the refugees at a time when UNHCR-facilitated voluntary reparation is also underway. The UNHCR has also cut grant to the returnees from 400 US dollars per refugee to 200 US dollars due to shortage of funds.

Spokesman for the UNHCR in Islamabad Duniya Aslam Khan said that 17,000 refugees have returned from Pakistan under the voluntary repatriation process started on April 3.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had earlier agreed on documentation of the unregistered Afghan nationals in Pakistan with the technical support from NADRA and verification by Afghan authorities. They had also formed a committee comprising three members each from Afghanistan and Pakistan to work out the modalities for the exercise and subsequent issue of necessary documents by the Afghan government. However, the process had been delayed due to funding issues and uneasy relations between the two countries.

Pakistan considers the unregistered Afghans as illegal and sometimes they face arrests because of having no identity documents. Afghan government has always been critical of the arrests and ‘maltreatment’ of the refugees.

“The documentation will help address the complaints of the Afghan government,” the SAFRON minister said, adding that Afghan representatives would be part of the documentation campaign to verify the nationality of the refugees.

Baloch urged the unregistered Afghans to avail this opportunity to avoid any police action over their illegal stay.