ISLAMABAD, July 1: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday denied asking the Afghan refugees to leave Pakistani cities and noted that their repatriation was voluntary.

The UNHCR was responding to erroneous media reports that its staff were asking the refugees in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to either repatriate or relocate to other parts of Pakistan.

The repatriation programme is carried out under a Tripartite Agreement signed by UNHCR and the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan that provides for voluntary repatriation until 2005.

Those remaining after that period will be screened to see who still deserves the official refugee status. Under the repatriation programme, UNHCR provides Afghan refugees with information about conditions inside Afghanistan to help them decide whether to repatriate or stay in Pakistan until the conditions improved in their country.