KOHAT: All the unregistered Afghans residing illegally in refugee camps and different residential areas of Kohat division have been asked to go back to Afghanistan within three days otherwise the administration will conduct a crackdown and expel them forcibly.

The administrator for Afghan refugees in Kohat, Badshah Khan Paracha, told Dawn on Wednesday that they wanted that all illegal refugees should go back to their country voluntarily, but nobody was ready for it.

“The plan now is to establish a temporary site for illegal Afghan refugees to gather them from Kohat, Hangu and Thall and then send them back to Afghanistan,” Mr Paracha said, adding that no financial help would be given to illegal refugees as travel charges, food, etc.

Official says 5,000 illegal refugee families living in camps

He said that there were 5,000 illegal Afghan families in Kohat camps and 8,000 families in Hangu and Thall, while they had no figure for such Afghans in Karak. He said that they had no data about Afghans who had bought property and were living in the cities.

The refugee administrator said that they had prepared a form to be filled by every repatriating family. He said that they had decided to avoid the Kohat-Peshawar tunnel route because the checking process of thousands of refugees would create a great mess at the army checkposts near the Friendship Tunnel.

The administrator said that he had demanded certain guarantees which had been written on backside of the form to be issued to each returning family to ensure that they were not involved in kidnapping of children, property dispute with local people or wanted by police in any criminal case and had no outstanding government dues against them. The form would be signed by a legal Afghan refugee as guarantor of each returning family.

The illegal refugees, who were informed through loudspeakers about the decision concerning the three-day ultimatum, have pleaded that they were ready to leave, but they should not be forced to gather and live in the temporary camp.

“I have held a meeting with the commissioner, Kohat division, after the refugees asked for more time for selling their properties, who agreed to sympathetically think over it and give them a week or two for winding up their businesses, clinics, agricultural land and money dealings with local people. I am in constant contact with deputy commissioners of Kohat, Karak, and Hangu,” Mr Paracha said.

The Afghan families have said that they would not tolerate humiliation by the administrative staff and refused to be dumped in a camp. However, they have agreed to be repatriated in a dignified manner.

BIKES RECOVERED: Gumbat police seized two stolen motorcycles and gallons of engine oil from the shop of a tribesman during a search operation here on Wednesday.

The police said that sometime back a shopkeeper and one local resident had lodged a complaint of theft of engine oil and motorcycles. Following a tip-off, the police raided the shop of one Zubair, a resident of Orakzai Agency, and recovered eight gallons of engine oil and two motorcycles. The police arrested the accused and registered a case against him.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2015

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