Undocumented Afghans’ registration delayed till July 25

PESHAWAR: The registration  of Afghan nationals has been  delayed till July 25 for some  technical reasons, an official  at the Afghan Consulate said  on Saturday.  “The complete registration  process will begin across  the country from August 16,”  Shakirullah Sabawoon, who  is also Afghan government’s  representative at the Afghan  Consulate, told The News.  He said the registration  of about 550,000 unregistered  Afghans was supposed  to begin from July 15, but  due to some technical and  legal ground the National  Database Registration Authority  (Nadra) will now  issue the cards on July 25 in  Peshawar.  “And the complete registration  process will begin  from August 16 wherein  about 25 registration centres  would be established across  the country,” he elaborated.  The official said that two  mobile teams one each in  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and  Balochistan would register  the unregistered Afghan nationals  in Pakistan.  He said that 11 registration  centres would be set up  in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including  four in Peshawar, one  each in Kohat, Hangu,  Mansehra, Haripur and  Swabi.  Besides, he added that  five registration centres  would be set up in Balochistan,  four in the Punjab and  five in Sindh.  Shakirullah Sabawoon  said that under an agreement,  Pakistan and Afghanistan  government had agreed to  register the unregistered  Afghans living in Pakistan  and for this purpose the Ministry  of States and Frontier  Regions and Nadra were  asked to issue these cards.  Similarly, he said, the  Afghan government would  send special teams to Pakistan  to verify these Afghans  during the registration  process.  He said that the United  Nations High Commissioner  for Refugees (UNHCR) in  Pakistan had no business  with the registration of unregistered  Afghan nationals.  “The UNHCR has already  issued PoR cards to registered  Afghan refugees in Pakistan,”  he pointed out.  The official said that after  registration the Afghans  would get cash amount and  other assistance from the International  Organisation for  Migration (IOM) and Afghan  government upon their return  to Pakistan.  He clarified that the holders  of the cards would get no  financial assistance from  UNHCR as part of the voluntary  repatriation process.  He added that the actual  number of unregistered  Afghans in Pakistan would be  identified once the registration  is completed. The number  of unregistered Afghan  refugees is estimated to be  about one million.