The renewal and verification of documents of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan have been suspended temporarily in view of the third wave of coronavirus in the country.
Pakistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have decided to temporarily postpone the commencement of the 'Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise' (Drive) of Afghan refugees, Dawn reported.
The card renewal and verification exercise was scheduled to begin on Thursday.
Afghan refugees holding 'Proof of Registration' cards with an expiry date of December 2015 will be informed about the commencement of the exercise in due course.
Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees.
Last month, the government announced the Afghan refugees whose 'Proof of Registration (PoR) cards had expired in 2015 would be given new smart cards after verification this year.
In January, Pakistan cancelled about 200,000 computerised national identity cards (CNICs) held fraudulently by Afghstan refugees. Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had said, "We have data of 1.5 million Afghan refugees having legal status and about 800,000 Afghans living in the country illegally".
A total of 4,723 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Pakistan during the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 682,888, out of which 14,694 died, according to the data released by the country's health ministry on Saturday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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