Increase font size Decrease font size Reset font size

Repatriation of Afghan refugees resumes amid cash grant cut

2017-04-04
ISLAMABAD: Mass repatriation of Afghan refugees resumed on Monday despite the United Nations` decision to cut cash grant for the refugees who opted for voluntary repatriation, and past criticism of the agency`s programme.

The operation, which saw 380,000 registered refugees sent back from Pakistan in 2016, was halte din December for a routine winter break.

`The UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme for registered Afghan refugees resumed today,` said Duniya Aslam Khan, a spokeswoman for the refugee aid body.

The UN had cut its cash grant for returnees from $400 to $200, she confirmed, citing `financial constraints facing humanitarian operations worldwide`.

The grant, which was doubled in 2016, became a factorin the surge ofreturnees across the border to Afghanistan after July last year, the UN said. But fears of a crackdown by Pakistan on refugees, many of whom left Afghanistan decades ago, also contributed.

The Human Rights WatchISLAMABAD: Mass repatriation of Afghan refugees resumed on Monday despite the United Nations` decision to cut cash grant for the refugees who opted for voluntary repatriation, and past criticism of the agency`s programme.

The operation, which saw 380,000 registered refugees sent back from Pakistan in 2016, was halte din December for a routine winter break.

`The UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme for registered Afghan refugees resumed today,` said Duniya Aslam Khan, a spokeswoman for the refugee aid body.

The UN had cut its cash grant for returnees from $400 to $200, she confirmed, citing `financial constraints facing humanitarian operations worldwide`.

The grant, which was doubled in 2016, became a factorin the surge ofreturnees across the border to Afghanistan after July last year, the UN said. But fears of a crackdown by Pakistan on refugees, many of whom left Afghanistan decades ago, also contributed.

The Human Rights Watchin a scathing report in February accused Pakistan of coercion, threats and abuse in the mass repatriation, and the UN of complicity.

The report said a combination of insecure legal status, the threat of deportation during winter and police abuses including extortion, arbitrary detention and night raidshad left the Afghan refugees with no choice but to leave.

It also accused UNHCR of effectively encouraging the exodus by doubling the cash grant, and said the UN body should end the `fiction` that the returns are voluntary.

The UN had previously rejected the criticism.

`The UNHCR advocates for all refugee returns from Pakistan to be voluntary, gradual and take place in conditions of safety and dignity, Ms Khan said on Monday.

More than four million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan voluntarily since 2002.-AFP