Under a campaign being led by Pakistan government and supported by UNHCR as many as 600,000 Afghans have been interviewed to get their smart Proof of Registration (PoR) cards renewed out of the 1.4 million population of refugees currently residing in Pakistan.
National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in collaboration with UNHCR and Afghan Commissionerate would verify and update the data of all the 1.4 million population of refugees to issue them PoR cards. It was informed by UNHCR Director Asia Bureau Indrika Ratwatte during his visit to a center of PoR registration here. Talking to the media he expressed gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees for a long time.
He said that under the PoR process the Afghan refugees would be issued a chip-based smart card having all the details of the individual including his educational qualifications and skills which he said would help UNHCR in repatriation of the refugees and using their voluntary services in different fields in Afghanistan.
He said that card would better enable refugees to access critical services, adding that refugees who completed their Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise (DRIVE) verification interviews receive SMS notifications advising them of when and where their new PoR smartcard can be collected.
Till date, he said over 100,000 cards have been printed and distributed to refugees for which the government of Pakistan deserves applause, he remarked.
He said a lot has changed since the last large scale exercise in Pakistan 10-year ago. It is important for the government and UNHCR to have current information on the refugee population, including who is present, where they are living and what their needs are, Ratwatte added.
The DRIVE campaign would continue till the end of the year, renewing and updating information on Afghan refugees who currently hold PoRs. The cards to be valid till June 2023 are legally recognized proof of identity and include enhanced security features including technologically compatible with systems used in Pakistan to authenticate the identities of nationals to access services. The smart PoR cards could not be tempered or forged.
DRIVE is part of a wider effort to assist displaced Afghans through the support platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR). The exercise will help collect data on the educational and professional backgrounds of refugees. This information would enhance support for those who may in the future voluntarily return to Afghanistan. To a question he said in the wake of the recent change of power in Afghanistan, UNHCR would continue supporting the Pakistan government in hosting the refugees, however he said that no influx of Afghan refugees in Pakistan has so far been observed.
He said 1.4 million Afghans are still in Pakistan and as soon as the situation improves in their country, the repatriation process would be expedited. Ratwatte said there are 38 million Afghans in their own country who need humanitarian assistance and UNHCR collaboration with the international community was helping them. On the occasion Afghan Commissionerate Abbas and a representative of NADRA were also present and said that measures are in place at all DRIVE sites to mitigate COVID-19 risks through enhanced hygiene, physical distancing and the scheduling of set numbers of appointments each day.
