Talks on Afghan refugees

More than 1.5 million refugees have already returned

By Zaffar Abbas BBC reporter in Islamabad

Afghanistan's Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Enayatullah Nazari, has arrived in Pakistan on a five-day visit.

He is scheduled to hold talks on the welfare of nearly two million Afghan refugees and on the

Many of the refugees live in poor conditions

future plans for the resettlement in their homeland.

This is the first such visit by the Afghan minister for refugee affairs since the induction of Hamid Karzai's government in Kabul.

On his arrival in Islamabad, Mr Nazari had an extensive meeting with Pakistan's Minister for Refugee Affairs, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao.

UN assistance

An official statement said the two sides had agreed to continue with the programme for the phased return of the remaining 1.8 million Afghan refugees.

The repatriation is taking place with the assistance of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

According to a proposed agreement between the UNHCR and the two countries, 400,000 Afghan refugees will be repatriated every year.

Since January this year, more than 1.5 million refugees have returned voluntarily with assistance of UNHCR.

Peshawar problems

The Afghan Government had initially expressed

Afghanistan may not be ready for speedy return

some reservations about the speedy repatriation of refugees - largely due to fears that their proper rehabilitation may not be possible.

During his visit, the Afghan minister will also visit some of the refugee camps outside Peshawar and will hold talks with the representatives on the problems faced by the refugee community.

During the last two decades Pakistan has provided shelter to nearly three million Afghan refugees.

Most of them were forced to leave their homes following the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the subsequent civil wars between the rival Afghan factions.