The Afghan government will distribute ID cards, passports and birth certificates to Afghan refugees living in Iran, Pakistan and Gulf countries once a verification process has been conducted.

Based on an agreement signed on Monday between the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of refugees and repatriations and the interior ministry, the first step will see Afghan migrants in these countries issued with ID cards and then on the basis of the ID cards, passports will be issued to them.

“The aim of the agreement is to identify Afghan citizens in Iran, Pakistan and Gulf countries and then ID cards will be issued to them and once they have ID cards  they will receive passports,” said deputy minister of foreign affairs Nasir Ahmad Andisha.

“The main aim of the agreement is to solve citizen’s problems that they are currently facing and provide them with help,” said deputy minister of refugees and repatriations Dr Alima.

“We are trying our best to start the program as soon as possible and the first stage will start in Iran,” said the chairman of the electronic national identity card (e-NIC) department, Humayun Muhtat.

Based on statistics from the ministry of refugees and repatriations, currently more than 2.1 million Afghans live in Iran and another two million in Pakistan. However there is no figure regarding numbers in Gulf countries.