July 15, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1423

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LONDON, July 14: Britain has declared that Afghanistan is safe enough to send thousands of Afghan asylum seekers back home, as the Home Office believes that conditions in their country have improved considerably.

Dawn has learnt that the government is considering offering a package of support to failed Afghan asylum seekers who agree to be flown back home. The repatriation of the asylum seekers, when it begins, will be the first in the last seven years. Afghans are now among the biggest refugee groups in Europe, and last year Afghanistan was the chief source for asylum seekers coming to the UK, with roughly 10,000 applications.

Many Afghans have expressed their shock over the decision of the government, saying that Afghanistan is still unsafe for the return of refugees. Some of the refugees contacted by Dawn, said that the recent killing of one of the vice presidents of the country is a glaring example that even senior government figures with armed escorts are not safe, what to speak of the common man.