Afghan repatriation nears 100,000 mark

The number of Afghans who have returned to their homeland from Iran is approaching the 100,000 mark, says the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The programme envisions the voluntary repatriation of 400,000 Afghan refugees this year. "The operation in Iran is well-organised and going smoothly," UNHCR spokeswoman Laura O'Mahony told IRIN from the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Monday. "We are not seeing signs of any significant 'revolving door' syndrome." According to UNHCR figures, by Saturday 95,635 Afghans - including 13,378 families - had voluntarily returned to Afghanistan since the joint programme between UNHCR and Tehran began on 9 April. This amounts to almost a quarter of the expected 400,000 returns this year. Asked whether she anticipated this figure to be surpassed, O'Mahony maintained it was unlikely that a Pakistan-type situation was developing. In a parallel repatriation programme launched on 1 March, with a planned repatriation figure of 400,000, well over one million Afghans have returned from Pakistan. "The situation and profile of the Afghan refugee communities in the two countries is quite different, so comparisons are academic. The planning figure for the first year of the voluntary programme is and remains 400,000," she said. As part of the assistance package, returnees from both countries are provided with food and non-food items, as well as a small cash grant. In Iran, transportation is provided to the two border crossings along the country's 936 km frontier - at Dogharoun in eastern Khorasan province and Milak in Sistan-Baluchistan. Regarding the number of returnees, O'Mahony warned away from focusing on figures, saying: "We are talking about people not numbers - and this preoccupation with numbers now appears to be having an adverse affect." Indeed, during the past few weeks, UNHCR has received reports and indications from several provinces that authorities have begun taking measures aimed at making life uncomfortable for the Afghan community in general and, in doing so, "encouraging" them to return. UNHCR is particularly concerned over reports that Afghan children may not be allowed to register for the coming school year, for example, and that access to medical and health services are being curtailed. "The decision to repatriate through the UNHCR-programme is - and should remain - a voluntary one," she emphasised. Implemented jointly by the agency and the Iranian Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA), the campaign aims to facilitate the voluntary, dignified, and safe and orderly return home of Afghan refugees from Iran. At each of the 10 voluntary repatriation centres (VRC) where returnees register, there are separate working areas for UNHCR and BAFIA, allowing agency staff to conduct confidential interviews with all prospective returnees. "Verifying that the decision to return is a voluntary one is vital for UNHCR," said O'Mahony. Interviewers note returnee details on a voluntary repatriation form which is signed by the prospective returnee and serves as proof of the voluntary nature of the repatriation. Additionally, the form serves as an identification and travel document upon the person's return to Afghanistan and proof of his/her entitlement to reintegration assistance. Despite precarious conditions inside their homeland, Afghan repatriation is already the largest and fastest that UNHCR has witnessed since Iraqi Kurds returned home in 1991. It has surpassed even the massive 1999 return of refugees to Kosovo. The United Nations estimated at the beginning of the year that there were some 3.7 million Afghan refugees worldwide, mainly 2 million in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran.