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Afghans in Pakistan cite shelter and jobs as deciding factors in return
31 Mar 2006 Close to 9,000 Afghans have gone home from Pakistan since UNHCR resumed its repatriation operation in March. Many of them cite jobs, land and shelter as key factors influencing their decision. -
Feature: Information "superhighway" for Afghans in Quetta
20 Mar 2006 Hopping on his motorcycle, the man behind the UNHCR Public Information Centre in Quetta, south-western Pakistan, steers through the narrow lanes of Afghan neighbourhoods to consult and bring leaflets to urban Afghans on issues affecting their decision to repatriate. -
Timber finally arrives on Indonesia's Nias Island to rebuild thousands of homes
17 Mar 2006 After months of delay and setback, timber shipments have finally arrived on Nias Island in Indonesia for rebuilding some of the thousands of homes lost in a devastating earthquake which submerged some coastal areas of the island last year. -
Timor-Leste's President Xanana Gusmão warmly welcomed at UNHCR
14 Mar 2006 Timor-Leste's President Xanana Gusmão pays an official visit to the UN refugee agency and is warmly welcomed by High Commissioner António Guterres, who had been Portugal's Prime Minister during the turbulent period of East Timor's separation from Indonesia. East Timor had previously been a Portuguese colony. -
Afghan refugees in India become Indian, at last
10 Mar 2006 In the last few months, Hindu and Sikh Afghans who have been living as refugees in India after fleeing fighting in their home country in the early 1990s, are starting to be granted Indian citizenship. So far, only a handful of people, often with the help of the UN refugee agency and its implementing partners, have managed to get through the lengthy bureaucratic process, but their success is inspiring others to apply. -
First Afghan families leave Pakistan as repatriation season resumes
3 Mar 2006 The UN refugee agency's fifth season of assisted returns to Afghanistan from Pakistan started this week after the winter break. Some 400,000 Afghans are expected to repatriate to Afghanistan this year, the last year of UNHCR-assisted returns under the current tripartite agreement with the two governments. -
Record refugee returns to Afghanistan show hopes and challenges
31 Jan 2006 As world leaders meet in London to agree a blueprint for the future development of Afghanistan, the return of millions of refugees signals hope for the future. -
Former UNHCR staffer leads Afghanistan's fight against illegal drugs
27 Jan 2006 As U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and world leaders gather in London next Tuesday to launch the Afghanistan Compact, setting out the country's political and economic plans for the next five years, the fight against opium production will be centre stage. And the man leading the anti-narcotics fight is a former refugee and a former UNHCR staff member. -
For returning Afghans, short-term employment can have long-term benefits
9 Jan 2006 Last year, UNHCR cash-for-work projects created more than 90,000 days of employment, benefiting some 82,000 vulnerable individuals - including Habibullah, one of 750 men hired for a week each to repair badly eroded roads linking three villages western Afghanistan.