More than thirty seven years ago, the UN refugee agency and the Government of Pakistan signed an agreement to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to millions of refugees fleeing war in Afghanistan.
The first 25 years of UNHCR’s presence in Pakistan were dedicated to the protection of Afghan refugees. The organization built refugee camps, assisted new arrivals, documented, registered and protected individuals.
Throughout the years of war in Afghanistan, Pakistan hosted the largest number of refugees in the world. Despite facing its own economic and social challenges, Pakistan has always maintained its tradition of hospitality by offering refuge to those in need.
Since 2002, in what has become the world’s largest assisted return programme, UNHCR has been facilitating voluntary repatriation of millions of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. Ten years after programme began, UNHCR has directly helped around 4.1 million Afghans to return home.
Though its mandate is to protect refugees rather than to respond to natural disasters, UNHCR was quick to take action when a devastating earthquake hit northern Pakistan in October 2005. Its emergency relief efforts then, and again in response to historic flooding in 2010 and 2011, assisted millions of families who had lost their homes and their livelihoods.
UNHCR Pakistan works closely with the government’s Ministry for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON). Together, UNHCR and SAFRON are plotting the future of the Afghan voluntary repatriation programme. Central to this is the government’s Afghan Management and Repatriation strategy which continues to promote voluntary refugee returns while offering alternate stay possibilities for certain groups of Afghans through by issuing visas or permits.
Pakistan is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees/1967 Protocol and has also not enacted any national legislation for the protection of refugees nor established procedures to determine the refugee status of persons who are seeking international protection within its territory. Such persons are therefore treated in accordance with the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
In the absence of a national refugee legal framework, UNHCR conducts refugee status determination under its mandate (Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees adopted by the General Assembly Resolution 428 (V) of 14 December 1950) and on behalf of the Government of Pakistan in accordance with the 1993 Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Pakistan and UNHCR. Pakistan generally accepts UNHCR decisions to grant refugee status and allows asylum-seekers (who are still undergoing the procedure) as well as recognized refugees to remain in Pakistan pending identification of a durable solution.
Afghan refugees: In February 2007, the Government of Pakistan concluded a registration exercise of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and issued Proof of Registration (PoR) cards to them, which provide temporary legal stay in Pakistan, freedom of movement and exemption from the application of the Foreigners Act, 1946. Approximately 1.34 million Afghans are currently holding PoR cards. These cards are currently valid until 31 March 2017. Only new born children to Afghan PoR cardholders can still be registered by the Government of Pakistan while newly arriving Afghans with international protection needs (please see details on what constitutes international protection needs in the below information leaflets) will need to go through the refugee status determination procedure conducted by UNHCR.
