Pakistan extends Afghan refugees stay for another year

KABUL's government has decided to extend the stay of registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan till June 30 nex year according to a media report on Friday.

The decision, notified by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), comes during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s ongoing visit to Pakistan and days before the current extension ends on June 30, 2019.

The express tribune reported that the ministry also announced an extension in the validity of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) till October 31, 2019.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also informed the Afghan president about the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s decision.

As per data collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 1,405,715 registered Afghan refugees and 210,465 Afghan families in Pakistan as of June 3, 2019.

The UN refugee agency defines registered Afghans as those who have valid Proof of Registration (PoR) cards issued by the Pakistani government.

The data shows the agency facilitated voluntary repatriation of 4,374,208 Afghan refugees from 2002 till December 4, 2018.

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