Illegal Afghans told to vacate refugee camp
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NOWSHERA: The district administration has issued notices to illegal Afghan refugees to vacate Azakhel camp within 15 days to avoid eviction.
“We’ve asked illegal Afghans to leave the camp or face eviction. We can shift them to Shamshatoo camp in Peshawar and provide them with tents and other necessary items if they show willingness,” assistant commissioner Abdul Hameed Khan told Dawn here on Friday.
Also read: Raids against Afghans
Abdul Hameed said around 1,500 Afghan refugees had long been illegally living in Azakhel camp.
He said such refugees had vacated the place in 2010 but returned after floods in the district.
After the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar last month, the government had begun surveys of refugee camps in the province, including those in Azakhel, Akora Khattak, Khairabad, Jalozai and Pabbi, to learn about illegal occupants.
The government has already informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees about around 1,500 Afghans living in Azakhel camp illegally.
The assistant commissioner said the administration had asked Afghan refugees to reveal their plans after vacating the camp.
He said if refugees wanted to return home, then the law-enforcement agencies would provide them with security.
Meanwhile, Afghan refugees living in Azakhel camp have appealed to the government to extend the camp vacation deadline.
An Afghan elder said refugees had been living in the camp for years.
“We strictly follow the government’s all orders but now it is bent on displacing them,” he said.
The elder said it wasn’t possible for refugees to vacate the camp and find an alternative place to live within a fortnight, so the deadline should be extended appropriately.
HOUSE LOOTED: A house was looted in Chowki Drab village late on Thursday.
The police said 15 people wearing police uniform entered Iqbal Hussain’s house, locked inmates in a room and seized Rs50,000 cash, eight tolas gold, six cellphones and a motorcycle before fleeing.
They said the search for robbers was underway.
However, no arrests were made by Friday night.
Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2015
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