Method of elimination: All Afghan refugee camps in K-P to be removed, says govt

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has announced it will remove all Afghan refugee camps across the province by the end of this year.

An official of the K-P Home and Tribal Affairs department said around 99 Afghan refugee camps across the province will be uprooted. This process includes phases where small camps followed by large camps will be removed.

The official, upon condition of anonymity, said currently 114,096 registered Afghan families are living in 70 small camps and 29 large camps – hosting 0.6 million people. Five large camps - Monda, Kababyan, Bhad, Khazana and Chakdara-  are located in Peshawar. Two more are located in Nowshera – Old Akora Khattak and New Akora Khattak.

Data on the 70 small camps is not available with the Afghan Commissionerate and other district administrations. The official added Afghan refugees living in small camps will be accommodated in the large camps for a while.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.