ISLAMABAD, 20
October (IRIN) - Across Pakistan, some 13,000 Afghan refugees have been registered in a drive that started five days ago, officials said on Friday. The campaign is aimed at providing millions of
Afghan exiles in Pakistan with identity cards valid for three years. The cards recognise the bearer as an Afghan citizen temporarily living in Pakistan."We anticipated a gradual start because of
Ramadan and we expect the pace of registration to pick up after Eid," Indrika Ratwatte, the Assistant Representative of the Pakistan office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in
the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The US $6 million registration exercise is a follow-up to a comprehensive Afghan census conducted in Pakistan in February and March 2005, which found more than
three million Afghans were still living in the country five years after comprehensive voluntary repatriation campaigns organised from Pakistan and Iran.Only Afghans counted in the last year's census
can take part in registration, which will continue until the end of the year. Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is conducting the exercise, using fingerprint biometrics
and photos to record information via 90 fixed registration centres supported by mobile registration points across the country.The UN refugee agency and government authorities are monitoring the
process."To register, photographs and fingerprints are mandatory as they will appear on the 'Proof of Registration' card, together with the person's name, place of origin and place of residence in
Pakistan," Vivian Tan, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said in Islamabad. In some areas of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), male registration staff have reportedly faced opposition when taking pictures
of Afghan females. "To be culturally sensitive, NADRA has now hired female staff to help with the registration process, including the taking of photographs and fingerprints for women," UNHCR
spokeswoman said. A provincial breakdown of Afghan registration so far suggests that more than 3,500 have registered in NWFP, 1,800 in Balochistan, 4,500 in Punjab, 1,700 in Sindh and 1,300 in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Almost half of those registered were women. Registration will be temporarily suspended next week during the Eid holidays 22-26 October, but the centres will be
re-opened next Friday, the UNHCR official said. ts/sc
