UNHCR to suspend Afghan refugees’ repatriation for three months

NEW YORK: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced Sunday that they will be suspending the repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan for the next three months due to cold weather, Geo News reported.

According to a spokesperson of the UNHCR, “The repatriation process will be halted from December 1, 2018 till February 28, 2019 due to drop in temperature and severe cold”. “All UNHCR centres in Pakistan and Afghanistan will remain closed during the winter,” the spokesperson added. He added that the registered Afghan refugees will not be given financial compensation in case of return during the period. “The operation will resume from March next year,” the spokesperson added.

In a report published by the UNHCR in April 2018, Pakistan hosted the largest number of refugees in the world. According to the UNHCR report, as many as 1.45 million refugees belonged to Afghanistan.

The report added that Pakistan unconditionally hosted millions of refugees and provided the best possible facilities to the affected people, especially Afghan citizens, when the war was at its peak.