Islamabad, Kabul hold talks for repatriating refugees

In this file photo, repatriated Afghan refugee children wave as they travel in a packed vehicle preparing to cross the border into Afghanistan, at the Torkham crossing point in Pakistan’s tribal Khyber district on Sept. 7, 2016. (AFP)

• Promise to work toward “dignified” return of nearly 1.4 million Afghans
• Official data shows that Pakistan has 63 camps for registered migrants

ISLAMABAD: Officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan met on Wednesday to discuss the way forward in ensuring the “dignified, gradual and voluntary” repatriation of refugees, with both sides agreeing to adhere to the stipulated timeline for the process.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are nearly 1.4 million Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan, a figure which Islamabad narrows down to an additional half-million unregistered migrants.
“The joint agreement is to have a dignified, gradual and voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in the next round of the meeting,” Zardasht Shams, Afghanistan’s deputy head of mission in Islamabad, told Arab News.
He added that representatives also deliberated upon how to work together for a timely and complete return of Afghan nationals. “It is a process…And these are the preliminary meetings and the rules of procedure were agreed upon,” Shams added.
Official data shows that Pakistan has 63 camps for registered Afghan refugees — a third live in camps, while an estimated 68 percent reside in other areas.
Mohamed Aslam from Pakistan’s Ministry of States and Frontier Region said that the next meeting for the initiative would take place in Kabul.