Islamabad:
The Federal Government has decided to close Afghan refugee fields that have been in operation for 40 years, ordering the closure of five of these facilities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), after the return of refugees to their country of origin.
The Ministry of Affairs of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan has issued a notification, ordering that the land of the camps be delivered to the provincial government and the attached commissioners of the relevant districts.
The five closed camps in KP, included three camps in the Haripur district, one in Chitral and one in Upper Dir. The Panian camp in Haripur had only housed more than 100,000 refugees, according to the officials.
The government began sending undocumented Afghan refugees in October 2023, citing reasons to increase crime and terrorism. Earlier this week, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif repeated that Afghan refugees were linked to terrorism in Baluchistan and KP.
In Quetta, recently, Baluchistan’s prime minister, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, met interim with the consul general of Consul Maulvi Muhammad Habib Nasir to discuss the return of refugees and the repatriation worthy of Afghanistan.
Bugti said the process would be gradual and human, with special arrangements for the elderly, women and children. He added that the provincial government was coordinating with UNHCR to ensure that repatriation proceeded with dignity.
According to UNHCR, most Afghan refugees in Pakistan currently reside in KP. However, KP Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has opposed the forced repatriations, while his information advisor recently demanded an immediate arrest of the process.
