Regional
Afghan refugees in Pakistan to be repatriated by end-2015
The tripartite agreement between the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which grants Afghan refugees an official refugee status in Afghanistan, will come to an end on 31 December 2012.
Therefore, the estimated 1.8 million registered (and an additional 1.3 million unregistered) refugees are to return to Afghanistan as the authorities are preparing to close camps that have been set up, in some cases, over 30 years ago.
The Afghan president reportedly assured Sharif that the repatriation of registered Afghans in Pakistan was a priority for the new Afghan government and steps were being taken to facilitate their return by Dec 31, 2015, which is the extended deadline given by Pakistan for the repatriation.
The extended deadline was heading towards its expiry when Nawaz Sharif granted a “generous” extension to allow the refugees to stay on in Pakistan till Dec 31, 2015.