UNHCR Completes 200,000th Home In Afghanistan
16 December 2010
An Afghan woman sits amidst her children as they wait to be repatriated to Afghanistan from a United Nations Humanitarian Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) registration center in Peshawar, Pakistan, Jun 20, 2010 (file photo)
During the past eight years, 4.5 million Afghan refugees have returned home. Most had spent long years in exile, mainly in Pakistan and Iran.
The mass return of this huge refugee population, believed to be the largest in the world, has strained the country's resources to the limit. In 2002, the U.N. refugee agency began a shelter program as part of its efforts to ease the return of the refugees.
UNHCR Spokesman Adrian Edwards said the program, which is an important element in the return of millions of refugees, has cost $250 million. While costly, he said the program has benefited 1.4 million people.
"The prospect of a secure home is regularly cited by returnees in Iran and Pakistan as one of their primary requirements before making a decision to return to Afghanistan," said Edwards. "This year alone we have helped more than 17,000 vulnerable returnee families with shelter assistance. Much of the actual work of construction is carried out by beneficiaries themselves."
Despite insecurity, Edwards said that Afghans continue returning every year in significant numbers from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. He said the biggest wave of returns was between 2002 and 2005. Nonetheless, he noted more than 112,000 people have returned to Afghanistan this year.
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