ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Pakistan refused on Thursday to admit some 5,000 new Afghan refugees massed on the western border, saying it was unable to cope with another influx.

Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said Pakistan had told the international community the refugees at Afghanistan’s southernmost border crossing would be better provided for in their own country.

“We have stopped any movement across the borders except for those carrying valid legal travel documents,” he said.

“Already we are host to more than three million refugees. We cannot take any additional burden of refugees.”

The spokesman said that those fleeing their homes because of conflict or drought could “easily be provided humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan”.

“Those camps can be established near their homes and probably it will also be more cost-effective if assistance is provided to them near their homes. That is why we will not allow any further refugees to cross the border.”

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday that between 4,000 and 5,000 Afghans had arrived at “no man’s land” between the two countries since Tuesday, close to the main border crossing of Chaman.

A UNHCR spokeswoman said the agency was investigating why people were fleeing, in a reversal of the trend over the last few weeks of displaced people returning to their homes.

“This is the first time in several weeks that we have seen such a great number of arrivals coming from Afghanistan. The tendency has been the opposite, for thousands to be returning towards this country,” spokeswoman Fatoumata Kaba said.

Kaba said that non-government organizations in Kandahar predicted more refugee movements from the city, which was the stronghold of the Taliban regime until it fell on Dec 7. -AFP