Pakistan – UNHCR to host International Conference in Islamabad

10 February 2020

Afghanistan
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Pakistan – UNHCR to host International Conference in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, 10 February 2020. TON: Pakistan in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will host an International Conference to mark “40 years of Afghan Refugees Presence in Pakistan: A New Partnership for Solidarity”, on 17-18 February 2020, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The two-day conference to be inaugurated by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will be held in Islamabad. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Filippo Grandialong with representatives from 20 countries will attend the event. In Pakistan, Afghans can be categorized as Proof-of-Registration (PoR) Card holders and therefore refugees, visa holders or ‘undocumented’, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

Among those who are ‘undocumented’, there are Afghan-Citizenship-Card holders (ACC), those who registered for ACC but haven’t yet been issued with their cards, and those who hold no documentation from the Government of Pakistan at all.

IOM figures show that currently, Pakistan hosts 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees including Proof-of-Registration (PoR) Card holders and 1.1 million undocumented Afghans including totally undocumented or registered for Afghan-Citizenship-Card holders (ACC) due to expire on 23 March 2020.

Among those considered ‘undocumented’, 549,000 Afghans hold an ACC, a further 333,000 have registered for an ACC and are in possession of tokens, and another 300-400,000 Afghans hold no legal documentation from the Government of Pakistan at all as of 04 July 2019, according to IOM.

Last modified on Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:06

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