Afghanistan is seeing a surge of returning refugees since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
An Afghan refugee woman climbs onto a truck at a repatriation centre prior to the departure of Afghan refugees to their homeland, on the outskirts of Quetta on May 17, 2006. The number of Afghan refugees returning home this year from Pakistan under the UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) voluntary repatriation programme is set to pass the 50,000 mark. (Hindustan)
Over 2.5 million refugees have returned home to Afghanistan since 2001.
Pakistan extended a deadline for the closure of Afghan refugee camps in a rugged tribal region as more than 100,000 refugees are still being processed for repatriation. About 2.5 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan since U.S.-led forces overthrew Afghanistan’s Taliban government in 2001.
Afghan refugees prepare to leave a refugee camp on their way back to their home country near the western Pakistani city of Quetta September 3, 2005. (Reuters)
Information from: Millions of Afghanis Return Home