BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Pakistan and Iran should make plans to help Afghan refugees integrate into their societies if they don't wish to be repatriated, a U.N. official said.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, attending a conference on Afghan refugees in Brussels Wednesday, said his first priority was to continue the current voluntary U.N. repatriation program for three million Afghan refugees still in Pakistan and Iran. Under this program, some three and a half million Afghans have returned home from the two countries since 2001.
But Rudd added that not all refugees were ready to go back to their country.
Lubbers said Islamabad and Teheran should take a "more relaxed attitude" toward their Afghan populations, view them as productive migrant workers, and provide them access to health care and primary education, the Pakistani Dawn reported.
Rudd said 600,000 Afghans had gone back to their country from Pakistan and Iran last year, adding that he expected another 500,000 to return in 2005 and the same number in 2006.
While aid was needed to help rebuild Afghanistan, with the focus on the reintegration and rehabilitation of those refugees who agreed to return, the commissioner also urged donors to help Pakistan cope with Afghans still on its territory.
