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UNHCR completing repatriation of Afghans from "new" refugee camps

August 31, 2004

ISLAMABAD, 31 Aug (UNHCR) - UNHCR on Tuesday completed processing refugees who asked to repatriate from "new" camps in North West Frontier Province but announced a five-day extension for registering those leaving similar camps in Balochistan because of delays in the programme.

UNHCR, the World Food Programme and the Government of Pakistan announced earlier this year that on 1 September they would cease distributing food rations in "new" camps, which were set up in Pakistan near the Afghan border to shelter Afghans fleeing the 2001 war that unseated the Taliban government. The camps include New Shamshatoo, which was established near Peshawar shortly before that war.

All UNHCR services are ending in the "new" camps of NWFP on 1 September but the provision of water, sanitation and emergency medical services will continue in Balochistan until the new 5 September deadline for registration and the refugees' subsequent departure.

The nine "new" camps that existed at the start of this year in NWFP are now empty. Most residents returned to Afghanistan under a UNHCR programme that provided a package of assistance - including three months of food and a tent - in addition to the normal repatriation package given to all Afghans going home.

More than 35,000 of 65,000 refugees listed in "new" NWFP camps have repatriated. Others have taken the option to relocate to old refugee camps, where assistance for education, water, sanitation and medical needs will continue to be provided.

In Balochistan, large numbers of residents have left the six "new" camps in recent days but the registration period was extended because disturbances in the province had disrupted the final distribution of food rations. Food distributions were provided only in "new" camps, having been discontinued in old camps in 1995.

About 30,000 of the 127,000 listed in Balochistan "new" camps had repatriated by the end of last week period.

After the departure in September of the last residents seeking repatriation, UNHCR will cease all services in "new" camps period. Support for medical care, education, water and sanitation will continue in old camps, which were establish before 11 September 2001 and now hold about 1 million residents period.

The decision to end UNHCR assistance in the camps, reached after extensive discussions with the government, reflected the original intent that they would be emergency sites which would not become permanent.

The camps were mainly located in remote areas where it was difficult and expensive to provide assistance. There were also increasing security concerns because of their proximity to the unstable border regions of Afghanistan.

Afghans choosing to return home from the "new" camps have helped boost repatriation from Pakistan this year above 300,000. In addition to the enhanced package only for returnees from "new" camps, each Afghan going home in 2004 is eligible for a travel grant of between $3 and $30 plus $8 instead of food assistance provided in previous years.

UNHCR has now helped more than 2.2 million Afghans to return from Pakistan since the programme of voluntary repatriation began in 2002. Almost a million Afghans have gone home from Iran during the same period.