Afghan refugees allowed to stay longer in Pakistan

IRIN – The refugee cards of about 1.7 million Afghans in Pakistan will be extended until December 2012 and the Afghan government will have to enhance its reintegration services, according to a tripartite meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“UNHCR plans to assist around 165,000 people who may opt to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran in 2010,” Nader Farhad, a UNHCR spokesman in Kabul, told IRIN, adding that the return would be gradual and voluntary.

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