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UN Says Time Ripe to Offer All Afghans Chance to Go Home
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
The Tehran Times

"UNHCR is therefore recommending to governments that the time is now ripe for Afghans -- wherever they are and at whatever stage they may be in the asylum process -- to be offered the option of voluntary repatriation."

GENEVA -- TT
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday the time was now ripe for governments to start offering help to all Afghans who want to return home following recent security and political improvements, AFP reported.

UNHCR said it had reviewed its position since calling on states outside the Afghan region in February to be wary about voluntary repatriation programs and to refrain from final decisions on asylum claims by Afghans.

"This was because the situation in Afghanistan was still too unsettled and the future too uncertain," the UN agency said in a press release.

More than 1.25 million Afghans have now chosen to return to their homeland from neighboring countries, mainly Pakistan, under a voluntary return program since the beginning of March.
(More: The Tehran Times News Source)
2002 © The Tehran Times.

Dan