Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration on Wednesday said it has shut down as many as 42 camps that had housed Afghan refugees for over 40 years, in a bid to “ensure the elimination of illegal and unregulated camp residents”.
The closure of the Afghan refugee camps also initiated the “voluntary” repatriation process of more than 3,00,000 refugees, who have been asked to return to Afghanistan.
Millions of refugees from across the border had crossed into Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Since Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a bordering province, it ended up hosting the largest number of these refugees.
Meanwhile, authorities said the closure of the camps, which were almost 45 years old, is aimed at “streamlining the system of refugee residence and registration in the province”.
The process of closure was carried out in two phases, with five refugee camps closed down in the first phase, and the remaining 37 camps located across the province closed in the second phase on Tuesday.
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Amidst the deployment of police and other law enforcement agencies during the closure drive, the provincial government has duly informed the federal government about the latest developments, the sources said.
“The action against unregistered Afghan refugees is in line with government policy,” they added.
Officials said the closure of these refugee camps is a significant policy milestone in managing refugee affairs and restoring administrative order in the province.
“The primary objective behind the closure of the camps was to take the repatriation of Afghan refugees to its logical conclusion,” they said.
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