27 July 2009 - The issue of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan will be discussed at a major meeting in Kabul.

At its 17th meeting tomorrow the tripartite commission will discuss the renewal of the key agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

The Tripartite Agreement, which was first signed in 2003, regulates the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

Afghanistan's Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Abdul Karim Barahwai, Pakistan's Minister of States and Frontier Regions, Najamuddin Khan and senior UNHCR officials are among the participants of the meeting.

Millions of Afghans fled Afghanistan, the majority to Pakistan, following the Soviet Union invasion in 1979.

UNHCR has assisted the return of more than 4.3 million Afghan refugees since 2002. Every Afghan returnee is paid US$ 100 as a repatriation grant.

The tripartite commission will also approve the extension of Proof of Registration cards for Afghans for three more years.

Other topics to be discussed include land allocation for landless returnees, reintegration of returnees and a review of the voluntary repatriation programme this year.

Reintegration of Afghan returnees, the majority of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades is top of the UNHCR agenda.

The lack of shelter for many Afghan refugees living in Pakistan is a big obstacle on the way to their return to Afghanistan.

Since 2002, UNHCR has assisted in the construction of some 181,000 shelters for Afghan returnees while it plans to build 10,000 more shelters this year.

For decades, Afghans constituted the world’s largest refugee population with up to eight million people living outside their country.

By Homayon Khoram, (UNAMA)

Website: UNHCR