IRIN
PAKISTAN: Big Afghan refugee camp to close
1 December 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 1 December (IRIN) - Pakistani authorities are soon to close 
the large, well-established Jalozai Afghan refugee camp, home to 120,000 
people and located in the Nowshera district of Pakistan's North West 
Frontier Province (NWFP), some 140 km northwest of the Pakistani 
capital, Islamabad.

"On account of security concerns the camp has only been identified for 
closure. However, the formal closure will be announced only after 
consultation with the government of Afghanistan and the UN refugee 
agency [the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR)]," Dr Imran Zeb, director of the Commissionerate for Afghan 
Refugees (CAR), a state body dealing with Afghan refugees, said in 
Islamabad on Thursday.

Of about 200 refugee facilities meant for Afghans fleeing the Soviet 
invasion of 1979 and, later, internal strife inside Afghanistan, 
Pakistan now has only around 70 camps housing over 1 million refugees, 
mainly administered by UNHCR.

Including Jalozai, there are currently four Afghan refugee camps facing 
closure for what Islamabad refers to as "security concerns".

Two of the camps are located in the southwestern province of 
Balochistan, home to 63,000 Afghans. The third is in NWFP, located in 
the provincial capital of Peshawar and housing 50,000 refugees.

Since 2003, the closure of Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan has been 
proceeding alongside the repatriation operation that began in March 
2002.

Under the voluntary repatriation assistance programme of the UNHCR 
started in 2002, over 2.7 million Afghans have returned so far from 
Pakistan.

Nearly 1.6 million repatriated in 2002, followed by some 340,000 in 2003 
and more than 380,000 in 2004. This programme is governed by a 
tripartite agreement between Kabul, Islamabad and UNHCR that runs until 
December 2006.

According to a comprehensive census of Afghans living in Pakistan 
carried out in March 2005, over 3 million Afghan nationals have been 
living in different parts of the country for over a quarter of a 
century. Many do not want to return to Afghanistan, citing insecurity, 
lack of jobs and infrastructure for their reluctance to leave their 
adopted country.


IRIN photos and articles of the Asia earthquake impact are available to 
media and members of the humanitarian community free-of-charge. Articles 
can be accessed at www.IRINnews.org. Full-sized images suitable for 
publications can be downloaded directly from the public photo 
library:www.irinnews.org/photogallery/iringallery .  To search for 
appropriate photos select 'Pakistan' under the Country search dropdown 
box.

New photos and articles are added daily.


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +90 312 454 1177
Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                   guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central Asia                  www.cidi.org/humanitarian/hsr/centralasia