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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today (Thursday) launched a nationwide drive to verify and update the data of some 1.4 million Afghan refugees residing in the country, an official said.
According to details, their data will be updated and smart identity cards will be issued after verification. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is assisting Pakistan’s Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees in the exercise.
According to a spokesman for the Commissionerate, Muhammad Usman, as many as 600 governments and UNHCR officials have been assigned to 35 areas across the country for the registration process.
“This facility is not for unregistered refugees,” he told to an international news agency, adding that the drive will continue for six months. He said a policy will soon be introduced to encourage unregistered refugees to register and benefit from the facility.
The last large-scale verification of refugees in the country was undertaken 10 years ago. The exercise will boost Pakistan’s efforts, with UNHCR’s support, to enhance protection for refugees.
There are nearly three million documented and undocumented Afghan refugees in Pakistan, making it the largest refugee population in the world after the Syrians in Turkey.