ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has launched a drive to verify the data of around 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees residing in the country.
Officials said that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will cooperate with the Pakistan’s Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees in the verification process, which has been launched after ten years.
After updating the data, refugees will be issued smart identity cards.
The facility is available to only registered refugees, the officials said, adding that the governments will soon announce a plan for unregistered refugees. Nearly three million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees are residing in Pakistan.
The drive will continue for six months in 35 areas across the country while 600 officials will carry out the task.
The development comes on the heels of the US President Joe Biden’s decision stating that that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan will start on 1 May 2021 and will be completed by 11 September 2021.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/pakistan-reacts-to-bidens-plan-to-pull-us-troops-from-afghanistan/
