PESHAWAR, Nov 7: The Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) has voiced concern over the relaxation in the issuance of visa to Afghans by Pakistani mission in Kabul, warning that it may cause another influx.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the commissionerate had requested the federal ministry for State and Frontier Regions (Safron) to ask the foreign office to come up with a proper visa policy to regulate the movement of Afghans.

A senior official said: “The commissionerate has requested the ministry concerned to direct the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul through the foreign office to restrict its visa policy. We have also suggested to withdraw the facility of multiple visa for Afghans”.

He said that a large number of Afghans were finding their way into Pakistan through unfrequented routes daily and expected a major influx of Afghans ahead of winter to escape harsh weather and food crises.

According to official figures Pakistan still hosts around two million refugees and displaced people, burdening its fragile economic infrastructure, and this year some 1,542,678 individuals had returned from Pakistan under the UN sponsored repatriation programme.

The commissionerate, sources said also sent proposals to the home and tribal affairs department, NWFP, asking it to deport thousands of Afghan families whose cases were rejected by the UN refugee agency staff on various technical grounds at various voluntary repatriation centres in Pakistan.

However, an official said, the ministry of Safron disagreed with the commissionerate’s proposal, keeping in view the proposed three-year timeframe agreement with the Afghan transition government and the UNHCR.

Apart from the agreement, officials said the Geneva Convention strongly prohibited deportation of displaced people, which could create much embarrassment for Islamabad at various international forums. The government would deport only criminals, they said.

The UNHCR has rejected the cases of about 56,437 displaced families at various voluntary repatriation centres in Pakistan since March 2002. Officials said that the government was waiting to ink the proposed three-year timeframe agreement. The agreement is likely to be signed in Islamabad very soon for the return of remaining refugees.