Kabul Calls on UNHCR to Shift Refugee Processing from Pakistan to Afghanistan

Report by “Safarti Tarjuman” International News Desk

Kabul — Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, has urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to relocate its key refugee registration and processing facilities from Pakistan to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces. The move, he said, would streamline the repatriation process and reduce the hardships faced by returning Afghan nationals.

The proposal was made during a meeting in Kabul with Arafat Jamal, UNHCR’s representative in Afghanistan. Abdul Kabir condemned the forced deportations of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan and voiced concern over significant delays at the UNHCR’s Azakhel registration facility in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He noted that these delays have caused serious hardships for returning families.

The minister stressed that keeping processing centers in Pakistan creates administrative bottlenecks and prolongs the wait for thousands of Afghans who want to return home. He also raised the plight of Afghan students in Pakistan, who face lengthy visa approval processes and uncertainty about their future.

Abdul Kabir urged for a dignified, systematic, and timely repatriation plan to ensure refugees can return without unnecessary obstacles.

Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mutalib Haqqani stated that the meeting also emphasized the need to streamline student visa issuance and improve essential services for returnees.

UNHCR’s Arafat Jamal promised to escalate the Afghan government’s concerns to the organization’s leadership. A follow-up meeting will be held in Kabul next month, bringing together representatives from international organizations and foreign governments to address the region’s refugee crisis in detail.