Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan by end of year

ISLAMABAD [ACTED News] - The tripartite agreement between the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which grants Afghan refugees an official refugee status in Afghanistan, will come to an end on 31 December 2012. Therefore, the estimated 1.8 million registered (and an additional 1.3 million unregistered) refugees are to return to Afghanistan as the authorities are preparing to close camps that have been set up, in some cases, over 30 years ago. According to UNHCR statistics, less than 50,000 people returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan on a voluntary basis in 2011. ACTED is preparing to launch interventions that should help refugees gain access to employment on their return through skills development training, and is considering a multi-country intervention to help find jobs or work experience upon their return to Afghanistan.