Refugee ministry lacks fund for returnees

KABUL): The Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation on Tuesday said it was ready to facilitate the return of 900,000 Afghan refugees being expelled by the Iranian authorities.

The Iranian government has set a three-month deadline for all illegal Afghan refugees to repatriate back to their homeland.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation, Islammuddin Juraat, said the ministry was ready to facilitate the return of the refugees to their respective areas, but it lacked funds to provide them with shelters there.

A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mohammad Nadar Farhad, said they would also help the returnees.

Under an agreement among Iran, Afghanistan and the UNHCR, the Iranian government could not forcefully deport Afghans, he said.

Officials from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Japan had previously decided to hold a joint meeting in Tokyo by the end this year to discuss Afghan refugees, but Iranian officials say the meeting will be held in another country soon.

frm/ma

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