Repatriation of refugees gathers pace

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that an increasing number of Afghan refugees are returning home from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. In one of the single largest returns this year, on 13 April 1,350 refugees repatriated from the two countries that host the largest numbers of Afghan refugees.
Two convoys, one from Tehran and the other from Mashad, with 840 persons entered Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border point on Thursday. After registration and distribution of an assistance package, the returnees went to the Herat transit centre, where they spent the night before departing for their final destinations. Since the start of the voluntary repatriation programme from Iran on 8 April, some 1,650 refugees have returned home.

The Governor of Herat, Mulla Kharirullah, and representatives from various UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), were on hand to welcome the returnees to Afghanistan. The Governor said he was very happy to see his compatriots back home and urged other provincial governors to facilitate the safe and peaceful reintegration of the returnees.

The returnees received a cash grant, fifty kilograms of wheat (provided by the World Food Programme), jerry cans, and plastic sheeting. Medical support is provided by the IRC in Islam Qala and by Medecins du Monde (MDM) in Herat, while the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have provided the medical supplies. IOM assists the returnees with onward transport to their areas of origin.

On 14 February, UNHCR and the Government of the Republic of Iran signed a Joint Programme for Voluntary Repatriation, which will help facilitate the return of some 100,000 Afghan refugees from Iran in 2000. There are some 1.4 million Afghan refugees in Iran.

In Pakistan, 510 Afghan refugees left Akora Khattak camp in Peshawar for Khak-e-Jabbar in Kabul Province on Thursday. A convoy of 29 trucks crossed at the Torkham border post and was escorted to its final destination by UNHCR staff from Kabul and Jalalabad. Some 4,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan so far this year. Pakistan hosts some 1.2 million Afghan refugees.