KABUL - The Government of Pakistan has agreed not to expel Afghan refugees who had permission to stay in the country until today, with the governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan also agreeing, at a recent United Nations-backed meeting, to continue their efforts in finding solutions to the world’s most protracted refugee situation.

“Pending a Cabinet decision on extension of Afghan refugees’ PoR [Proof of Registration] cards, which will expire on 30 June 2013, the Pakistani delegation committed to ensure that refugees holding expired PoR cards would remain protected in Pakistan,” the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated in a news release on Friday, following a meeting of government delegations from the two countries and UNHCR representatives in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, over 5.7 million Afghan refugees have returned to their country, with some 3.8 million of them returning from Pakistan alone, in the world’s largest return operation. However, there are still over 1.6 million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan, and around 900,000 in Iran.

According to UNHCR’s 2012 Global Trends Report, released on 19 June, Afghanistan remained the world’s top producer of refugees, a position it has held for 32 years. On average, one out of every four refugees worldwide is Afghan, with 95 per cent of them living in Pakistan or Iran.

At an event held to mark the World Refugee Day on 20 June, in Kabul, UN and Afghan officials called for collective efforts and a durable solution to address the problem.

After participating in the tripartite meeting on Friday, Afghanistan’s Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Dr. Jamaher Anwary, said millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan are experiencing “great uncertainty” in their immediate future.

“Thus it is of great importance that we were able, today, to reach an agreement about how best to help them,” said Dr. Anwary.

Pakistan’s Minister of States and Frontier Regions, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Abdul Qadir Baloch, said, “Being a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan will continue to adhere to international norms in addressing the issues of refugees.”

The Minister earlier told the meeting that his country was in the process of developing “a realistic plan of action” for the management of Afghan refugees beyond 30 June 2013.

UNHCR and Afghanistan welcomed the extension of the relevant agreement on voluntary repatriation, which governs the return of the Afghan refugees, and of the PoR cards, for which the timeframe will be announced after approval from the Pakistani Cabinet.

“We believe that by extending the Tripartite Agreement as well as PoR cards for Afghan refugees we’re further strengthening our collaboration, provide the necessary protection to the Afghan refugees and thereby helping their voluntary repatriation to their country,” said the UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, Bo Schack.

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