According to a spokesman for UNHCR, the agency resumed its voluntary repatriation programme on March 1 via Quetta and Peshawar.

736 Afghans had been repatriated from Balochistan, 738 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108 from Sindh, 165 from Punjab, 10 from Islamabad and Azad Kashmir. Some 3,682,704 Afghan nationals have been repatriated to Afghanistan since 2002.

This year, the UNHCR has increased its cash assistance grant for voluntary repatriation of Afghans by 50 per cent to an average of $ 150 per person, depending on travelling distance to their destination.

The UNHCR has advised the Afghan refugees to approach the repatriation centers with their valid Proof of Registration (PoR) cards along with two coloured family group photos.

It also urged the Afghans to get validated their expired PoR cards on urgent basis for smooth repatriation process.

All Afghans over the age of five years will have to undergo iris verification at the voluntary repatriation centers (VRCs) to determine if they have already received UNHCR cash assistance.

The PoR cards will be cancelled at the VRCs by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) before Afghans depart for Afghanistan.

The UNHCR has further advised the registered Afghans to get information regarding the functioning of the centers and their timings on the following helpline numbers: Islamabad 0300-5018698,  Peshawar 0300-8585600,  Quetta 0333-7819601