The U.N. refugee agency asked donors for US$10 million (¤7.3 million) Friday to allow it to repatriate a further 100,000 Afghans by the end of the year, AP reported. UNHCR said it has already assisted the return of more than 300,000 Afghans to their homeland this year, but funds will soon be exhausted. The refugees receive a transport and reintegration grant, medical help and mine awareness training UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva. Since launching its repatriation operation in 2002 following the toppling of the Taliban by a U.S.-led coalition, some 5 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, she said. Three million registered Afghan refugees remain in the region, mostly in Iran and Pakistan.
