Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Pakistan + 1 more

Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Registration Update (January 2018)

Attachments

Overview

Proof of Registration (PoR) cards are important tools of protection that provide temporary legal stay and freedom of movement for the 1.39 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Proof of Registration (PoR) cards which have expired at the end of 2015 have been extended through official notification until 31 March 2018.

Five PoR Card Modification (PCM) centres - located in Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi support the modification/replacement of existing cards, the registration of new born children up to the age of five, the provision of PoR cards to registered children who have reached five years of age and who are now entitled to their own cards, as well as the issuance of birth certificates to children under the age of 18 years old.

In 2018, UNHCR prioritised funds for the birth registration and the issuance of birth certificates to 90,000 children. The target for the issuance of individual PoR cards is 130,000 children who have reached five years of age and are eligible to receive their individual cards from the PCM centres.

The registration activities remained slow during January. In January, a slight decrease of applicants for PCM centre services was observed during the reporting month compared to those in December 2017; some 4,300 applicants availed registration services (7% decrease compared to December 2017). This is attributed to seasonal weather condition as majority of them are reluctant to process their card for modification during winter season.