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A huge migration
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/06/content_1729784.htm

Over 250,000 Afghan refugees return from Pakistan
www.chinaview.cn 2004-08-06 23:43:21

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assisted 2,618 Afghan refugees to head back to Afghanistan from Pakistan on Aug. 5, raising the number of returnees from Pakistan since the voluntary repatriationprogram started in March 2004 to 253,409.

"It has been three years since I became a refugee in Pakistan. Afghans are indebted to Pakistan for hosting a large refugee population for more than 25 years. Now I think we have to make a decision to return as an important election is near and we need totake part in that," said Khuda-e-Nazar, an Afghan refugee returning from Roghani refugee camp to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Khuda-e-Nazar said that war and drought have uprooted millions of Afghans from their homes inside Afghanistan and they were compelled to become refugees. "It's a terrible thing to become a refugee, but you are just helpless and want to run for the life and safety of your family and relatives," he said.

UNHCR assisted 143,882 refugees to return from Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), 50,873 from Balochistan province, 31,155 from Sindh and 27,499 from Punjab, according to astatement issued by UNHCR here on Friday.

All refugees over the age of six years must go through computerized Iris tests in either Quetta, Balochistan, or Peshawar,NWFP, the two main cities before the exit point. The technology identifies anyone who has previously received assistance, preventing abuse of the UNHCR funds available to help returning Afghans.

Refugees then return to Afghanistan by the border exit points at Chaman for Balochistan and Torkham for NWFP. Once in Afghanistan, refugees go to UNHCR encashment centers to receive a travel grant that varies between three US dollars and 30 dollars per person, depending on the distance covered, plus eight dollars in cash instead of additional assistance such as food that was provided in the first two years of the program, it said.

UNHCR has also announced an enhanced package for Afghan refugees leaving from the newly established camps in Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks. Six out of 12 of these new camps are in Balochistan hosting a population of around 120,000 and the other six in NWFP has a population of 65000. According to a joint decision of the Government of Pakistan, UNHCR and the World Food Program, assistance will be withdrawn from these camps after Aug. 31, 2004.

"We have placed mobile teams in Chaman and Mohammad Kheil areasof Balochistan to register Afghan refugees voluntarily wishing to repatriate", said Zelmira Sinclair, Senior Repatriation Officer UNHCR.

Sinclair said that UNHCR also has set up an Iris Verification Center in Chaman to facilitate the Iris test of Afghan refugees returning from Chaman camps.