Over 130,000 Afghans registered in Pakistan

More than 130,000 Afghan citizens have so far been registered in the largest scale registration conducted by the Pakistani government and the UN refugee agency, Pakistani and UN officials said on Tuesday.

At a press briefing in Islamabad, the officials of the Pakistani government and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the pace of registration was picking up after a slow start, urging more Afghans to come forward for registration before the exercise ends on Dec. 31.

Since the start of the registration of Afghan citizens in Pakistan on Oct. 15, more than 136,000 Afghans have been registered in Pakistan, according to UNHCR.

Women constituted 48 percent of those registered so far, and children below the age of 14 years were 50 percent.

"This is not a registration to deport or exclusively repatriate Afghans. The exercise will gather information and seek to provide a much awaited solution to their protracted situation," said UNHCR 's Representative in Pakistan Guenet Guebre-Christos.

Secretary of the Pakistani Ministry of Statas and Frontier Regions Sajid Hussain Chattha said that registration was important for the management of the Afghan population in Pakistan.

"This exercise is great in terms of challenges," said Saleem Moin, chairman of the implementing agency National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

"We're doing it through centers all over Pakistan. In some areas, they don't even have basic services like electricity. But we will leave no stone unturned to make sure the exercise is a success," he said.

The 10-week registration exercise has mobilized 2,500 NADRA staff and 1,000 staff from the Commissioner for Afghan Refugees and UNHCR in 70 registration centers and mobile registration vans.

Only Afghans counted in the 2005 census can register after having their names checked against the census database.

NADRA is increasing its equipment to smoothen the verification process. Responding to some resistance against the photographing of Afghan women, the authorities have hired more female staff to handle photography while persuading those concerned that photographs are mandatory for the Proof of Registration (PoR) card.

The registration exercise is a follow-up to the 2005 census of Afghans in Pakistan. Those registered will receive a PoR card valid for three years that recognizes them as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan.

There are an estimated 2.4 million Afghans living in Pakistan.

Source: Xinhua