ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: Four Afghan refugee camps in areas along the border will be closed this year as part of a plan of the Afghan and Pakistan governments to manage and regulate the Afghan population in Pakistan. The plan also includes new modalities for return of the refugees, starting in spring this year.

Speaking at a joint press conference here on Wednesday, Minister of State and Frontier Regions (Safron) Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind said that a decision to this effect was reached at the 12th Tripartite Commission meeting held here on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Ustad Muhammad Akbar Akbar, UNHCR's Representative in Pakistan Guenet Guebre Christos, senior officials of the Ministry of Safron and UNHCR were also present.

Mr Rind said that the four camps would be closed this summer. The refugee camps at Katchagari and Jungle Pir Alizai will be closed by June 15 and Jalozai and Girdi Jungle camps would be closed by August 31, he added.

The minister said the refugees would be required to return with the assistance of the UNHCR and those who could not return in the immediate future would be relocated to other camps.

About the ongoing refugee registration process, he said over 2.1 million had already been registered, adding that the exercise was near completion.

“The registered Afghans are given Proof of Registration (PoR) cards with a validity of three years that will be linked to new return modalities starting this spring,” Mr Rind said.

Under the new arrangement, the PoR card holders seeking repatriation must deregister their card before leaving Pakistan in order to receive an enhanced reintegration package on reaching Afghanistan, the minister said.

In reply to a question about the Afghan refugees having no PoR, he said they would be subject to laws of the land, adding that such people would be given a grace period of only six weeks if they wished to avail of the UNHCR assistance.—APP