Muhammad Adil, an intermediate student, is waiting along with his family in front of a walled compound on the Peshawar-Charsadda Road for the last three days.

Adil, who hails from Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, has no choice but to wait in long queues along with hundreds of others who need to renew their Proof of Registration (PoR) cards which expired in December 2013.

The lucky ones who made it out early in the morning lined up in front of the main gate of the makeshift Nadra centre while the late comers were roaming around in the empty space. At times, police would hit them with sticks to maintain order in the camp. Wearing their traditional shuttlecock burqas, the afghan women waited in a corner for their turns.

Despite his long wait, Adil was almost certain it would take another two to three days before his turn arrived, after which he would return to his family in Mansehra.

The renewal of PoR cards will facilitate 1.6 million registered Afghan nationals to prolong their stay in Pakistan till December 2015. Nadra commenced PoR renewals in February in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The initiative is a result of a federal government announcement in July 2013 on the Tripartite Commission Agreement governing the validity of the PoR cards and voluntary return of Afghans.

A few kilometres from the renewal centre, UNHCR has setup a Voluntary Repatriation Centre (VRC) in Chamkani locality on Grand Trunk Road to assist the return of the Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan, many since the 1980s.

However, data complied by the UN agency indicates the voluntary repatriation process is extremely slow. Since January last year 130 families (655 individuals) of a total one million living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa return to their native land. And the numbers keep declining. In 2010, 83,793 Afghan left Pakistan to head home while in 2013 the number significantly reduced to 19,484.

Besides offering all the basic facilities including clean drinking water and washrooms the UN agency offers $150 per head for Afghans returning home at this VRC, yet it is discouragingly deserted.

In addition the families are provided with free transportation and non-food items to ease their journey back.

In view of the disappointing response the UN agency will now be offering from $150 to $200 per head to expedite the repatriation process. On the other side of the border the Afghan government along with assistance from the international community is offering various incentives to those returning.

But the week long queues at the renewal centre and the emptiness of the VRC in Chamkani is a clear indication of the Afghan’s, documented and undocumented, preference of staying in Pakistan.

The situation of Afghans living in Pakistan is particularly complex with second and third generations born here, married to locals and having assimilated in most areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Besides the registered refugees around two million undocumented Afghans are residing in Pakistan. In 2012 the KP government had ordered all undocumented Afghan nationals to immediately leave the country or face legal action, but warning failed to have any impact.

Despite the possible sanctions and legal difficulties many Afghans, especially those born in Pakistan have got their education here and have running businesses, are not willing to cross the border.

Kaky Khan, a native of Paktia Province was three years old when his father got refuge in Pakistan after the Soviet Union invasion in 1979. Since then his family is living in Peshawar where he got married and is now raising his two daughters and son.

When asked if he would like to return, Kaky, a carpenter by profession says, “My children are going to school here and my work is here. I don’t have any property in Afghanistan, what will I do in Paktia?”

According to UNHCR barely one per cent of the total refugee population in Pakistan is satisfied with the security situation in Afghanistan.

Most refugees born outside Afghanistan say they face problems integrating in their own country. Mudasir Khan’s parents migrated about 30 years to Pakistan and he was born in Peshawar.

“Our relatives in Afghanistan don’t identify us as Afghans and say that you (refugees) are Pakistanis,” he says. “Even though refugees are facing many difficulties, life still is far better in Pakistan because of health, education facilities, security and jobs,” Mudasir explains expressing his unwillingness to repatriate.

With the presidential elections on April 5, most refugees are worried about the instability that might follow the polls and the subsequent withdrawal of Nato forces.

“Our future is not secure in Afghanistan and my family will stay in Pakistan beyond 2015,” said Muhammad Adil who rarely visits his motherland to meet relatives.