ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 300,855 Afghans have
returned home from Pakistan in seven weeks alone since the UNHCR
initiated its repatriation operation at the beginning of March,
the UNHCR Islamabad office said on Monday.
   It said in a press release that "When repatriation assistance
started on March 1, the UNHCR anticipated a total of 400,000
refugees to return from Pakistan during 10 months. These planning
figures have to be revised as the 10 months target is most likely
to be reached in less than three months of operation."
   "UNHCR workers have seen a great vriety of people returning.
There is no such thing as a 'typical returnee'. Registration
clerks see destitute families but also well-off Afghans who give
up their jobs or business to go home. Uneducated people as well as
intellectuals are heading home. Some have been refugees for as
long as 20 years, others have been in Pakistan only for a few
months," said the press release.
   The two most popular destinations in Afghanistan are the
capital of Kabul and Nangarhar with some 100,000 returns each,
despite the fact that returnees are altered to the still
precarious security situation in Nangarhar.  Enditem