ISLAMABAD, May 30: The government on Wednesday expressed concern over dwindling international funding available for the repatriation of Afghan refugees and appealed for generous contributions to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

At a meeting of international donors, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind noted that foreign assistance had dropped by almost 80 per cent.

It is estimated that a further sum of $60 million will be required to meet the repatriation target of 800,000 people this year.

Mr Rind said the government of Pakistan plans to repatriate the remaining 3 million Afghan refugees by 2009 and close down all refugee camps. The decrease in funding can impede this repatriation plan which has already hit snags, said Mr Rind, who also spoke of “difficulties in carrying out the closures already planned.”

So far this year, the government has announced the closure of two camps in the NWFP and two in Balochistan. However, it is facing stiff opposition from the refugees. Repatriation rates plummeted in 2006, which the UNHCR linked to Afghanistan’s deteriorating socio-political and economic conditions.

To maintain the momentum of voluntary repatriation, the UNHCR increased the repatriation grant to $100 per returnee this year. An estimated 205,000 unregistered Afghans returned home with the increased cash grant between March 1 and April 15, 2007.

Mr Rind said the government of Pakistan has so far contributed $5 million to achieve sustainability in the numbers of repatriated people.

He reminded donors that the continued existence of refugee camps posed a threat to not only Pakistan, but also to the entire region as allied forces point towards subversive activities originating from such camps.