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Pakistan to close refugee camps in North Waziristan

May 13, 2005

ISLAMABAD, 13 May (UNHCR) - The Government of Pakistan told the Government of Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency that it would close Afghan refugee camps in North Waziristan on 15 June, offering residents the choice of voluntary repatriation or relocation.

The Government of Pakistan asked UNHCR and the Government of Afghanistan to approach the World Food Programme in Afghanistan to provide an additional three months of food rations as an incentive to return from North West Frontier Agency and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which includes North Waziristan.

The announcement came on Thursday during the quarterly meeting of the Tripartite Commission that groups UNHCR and the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The meeting, which is hosted by each member in succession, was convened in Islamabad by the Government of Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation said it expected to soon announce the closure of other refugee camps in FATA. It also said Pakistani authorities this year plan to close the refugee camp of Katcha Ghari in Peshawar, which had been partially cleared two years ago.

However, Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to gradual, voluntary repatriation as embedded in the Tripartite Agreement that set up the Commission. UNHCR welcomed Pakistan's reiteration of voluntary repatriation as the preferred solution for Afghans in Pakistan.

The participants in the meeting noted their continuing support for the UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme, which is overseen by the Tripartite Commission. Since 2002, more than 2.3 million Afghans have gone home from Pakistan under the programme, with 69,000 so far this year out of a total 400,000 expected in 2005.

UNHCR and the Government of Afghanistan thanked Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghans since 1979, when Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan. All participants agreed that voluntary repatriation of Afghans remained the preferred solution to the presence of just over three million Afghans in Pakistan.

Sajid Hussain Chattha, Secretary of the Ministry for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), expressed concern over the reduction of the education budget for Afghan refugees in primary education and the lack of funding for middle and secondary education. He requested international support.

The meeting agreed that repatriation would be a lengthy process and many Afghans would still be in Pakistan when the current Tripartite Agreement, which governs repatriation, expires next March. The parties re-affirmed that the consultative process would continue and a decision on the future of the Tripartite Agreement would be made by September 2005.

It was highlighted by all parties that further development inside Afghanistan was essential to create conditions for sustainable repatriation.

"Our happiness (at large repatriation) is tempered with the awareness that your country faces problems in rehabilitating and reintegrating the returnees at the same time that it is rebuilding itself," said Yar Muhammad Rind, Federal Minister for SAFRON. His ministry handles Afghan refugees.

"I would therefore like to reassure that Pakistan will respect the voluntariness in the future repatriation and will relate this with the development process and objective conditions on the ground in Afghanistan," he told the meeting.

Mohammad Azam Dadfar, Afghanistan's Minister for Repatriation and Refugees, told the meeting that his government was committed to providing land to returnees for shelter and had already initiated the process.

UNHCR has launched talks with the governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan about finding long-term solutions for the millions of Afghans still outside their national borders.

"I would like to reassure the Government of Pakistan and the Government of Afghanistan that UNHCR is fully committed to support and play a catalytic role in search of a comprehensive solution to manage the critical transition period after the Tripartite Agreement," said Guenet Guebre-Christos, representative of UNHCR in Pakistan.