IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Government of Iran:

· Immediately re-open Iran's borders to refugees and provide them with adequate protection.
· Register all Afghans in Iran and ensure that they have access to proper status determination procedures.
· Cease immediately the push-backs and forcible return of Afghan refugees, and suspend all government-led repatriation schemes until conditions in Afghanistan are such that Afghans can return voluntarily, in safety and dignity, and with full respect for their human rights.
· If and when conditions are appropriate to commence a voluntary repatriation scheme in accordance with international standards, ensure that a screening process is in place to identify those refugees who are unwilling or unable to return and who continue to be in need of international protection.
· In order to meet basic international standards and safeguard refugees from abuse of their human rights, the voluntary repatriation program should include full and objective information about conditions inside Afghanistan, the opportunity for refugees to make advance visits before deciding about return, respect for family unity, the absence of negative push factors, and absolute protection against forced or coerced return to unsafe conditions inside Afghanistan. Protection against coerced return will also require continued assistance programs in Iran, so that decisions to return are not in response to dire humanitarian needs. Women refugees should have an equal voice in all decision-making about return.
· Accord those recognized as refugees their full range of rights under international refugee and human rights law, particularly with relation to freedom of movement and the right to work.
· Cease public statements about Afghan refugees that will encourage discriminatory practices and unlawful acts. Prosecute perpetrators of racial violence and ensure that refugee communities are protected. Recognize the positive input that refugees can make in Iran, and implement the Program of Action adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which outlines necessary steps to be taken to combat racism and xenophobia against refugees, and in which Iran actively participated.
· Take steps to ensure that Iran provides international refugee protection to all Afghans entitled to it, without favoring any one of the several recognized grounds for refugee status and without discriminating against uneducated or lower-income Afghans.

To the Government of Pakistan:

· Re-open borders to refugees from Afghanistan and provide them with adequate protection.
· Re-institute the screening program of August 2000, or a similar program designed to identify and provide protection to all Afghans in need of international protection, in accordance with international standards.
· Cease immediately the push-backs and forcible return of Afghan refugees.
· Cease all harassment, bribery, and imprisonment by Pakistani and tribal police of undocumented non-criminal Afghan refugees.
· Once conditions are appropriate for repatriation under conditions of safety and dignity, and with full respect for refugees' human rights, institute a voluntary repatriation program in accordance with international standards.
· In order to meet basic international standards and safeguard refugees from abuse of their human rights, the voluntary repatriation program should include full and objective information about conditions inside Afghanistan, the opportunity for refugees to make advance visits before deciding about return, respect for family unity, the absence of negative push factors, and absolute protection against forced or coerced return to unsafe conditions inside Afghanistan. Protection against coerced return will also require continued assistance programs in Iran, so that decisions to return are not in response to dire humanitarian needs. Women refugees should have an equal voice in all decision-making about return.
· If and when conditions are appropriate to commence a voluntary repatriation scheme in accordance with international standards, ensure that a screening process is in place to identify those refugees who are unwilling or unable to return and who continue to be in need of international protection.
· Arrange for the presence of female security personnel in camps to provide greater security to female refugees, particularly during assistance distributions.
· Take all necessary steps to stop the misuse of force by police at assistance distributions; provide training to Pakistani Frontier Corps and police personnel on providing security in refugee settings.
· Identify safe locations for refugee camps away from the border with Afghanistan, and consider moving camps that are insecure and currently located in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
· Cooperate fully with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in providing protection to refugees.
· Ensure that all refugees receive adequate information about relocation programs, and that the terms of all agreements (on relocation and in general) with UNHCR are strictly adhered to by the government.

To UNHCR :

· Continue to call on the Iranian and Pakistani governments to re-open their borders and fully comply with their obligations under refugee and human rights law, in particular the right to seek asylum and protection against refoulement.
· Ensure that all refugees receive adequate information about relocation programs, and that the terms of all agreements (on relocation and in general) with the government of Pakistan and Iran are strictly adhered to by those governments and by UNHCR.
· Continue to seek protection solutions for refugees in Iran and Pakistan through promotion of registration exercises, individual refugee determinations or screening programs, and the provision of identity documents and legal status to all refugees.
· Work with the government of Pakistan to provide appropriate training to security personnel located in camps.
· Urge the government of Pakistan to cease harassment, extortion, imprisonment, and forced returns of Afghan refugees because of their undocumented status.
· Organize and plan programs and the layout of camps with particular attention to Chapters 7-9 of UNHCR's Guidelines on the Protection and Care of Refugee Children, and Chapters III-V of UNHCR's Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women.
· Plan and implement voluntary repatriation programs in accordance with international standards. Continue to pressure the governments of Iran and Pakistan to adhere to these standards, and to provide ongoing protection to those Afghan refugees who continue to face threats to their lives or freedom.

To the International Community:

· As a matter of urgency, states should uphold their legal and humanitarian obligations to share responsibility for Afghan refugees, particularly through the provision of financial and other assistance to the large populations hosted by Iran and Pakistan.
· Even as a new political authority is put in place in Afghanistan, states should make clear to the Iranian and Pakistani governments that they have an obligation to afford protection to Afghan refugees, and should (i) open their borders to new arrivals, (ii) cease from prematurely returning Afghan refugees, and (iii) ensure that those who do elect to return, do so voluntarily, in safety and dignity, and with full respect for their human rights.
· Ensure that a voluntary repatriation program is planned and funded so that it meets all international standards, particularly those stipulated in UNHCR's 1996 Handbook, Voluntary Repatriation: International Protection ("Handbook") and in ExCom Conclusions.14 Such a voluntary repatriation program should also be coordinated with other reconstruction efforts inside Afghanistan such as human rights monitoring, rural development programs, and demining and demobilization schemes.
· In order to meet basic international standards, the voluntary repatriation program should include full and objective information about conditions inside Afghanistan, the opportunity for refugees to make advance visits before deciding about return, respect for family unity, the absence of negative push factors, and absolute protection against forced or coerced return to unsafe conditions inside Afghanistan. Protection against coerced return will also require continued assistance programs in countries of asylum, so that decisions to return are not in response to dire humanitarian needs.
· Where possible, states that have not yet established resettlement programs for Afghans (in which refugees are identified and welcomed in a new country, often located in the industrialized world) in conjunction with UNHCR should do so in accordance with their commitment to the principle of responsibility sharing.

14 See ExCom Conclusion No. 18, Voluntary Repatriation, 1980; No. 22, Protection of Asylum-Seekers in Situations of Large-Scale Influx, 1981; No. 74, General Conclusion on International Protection, 1994. See description of ExCom, note 11, supra.