ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: The government has decided to repatriate the Afghan refugees living in Rawalpindi and Islamabad through voluntary repatriation or relocate their camps in Pakistan, an official of the ministry told Dawn.

It has been decided in a meeting presided over by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao. The decision of repatriation or relocation of Afghan refugees was made due to security reasons, he said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had also formed a committee headed by the interior minister to shift Afghan refugees to their camps. The official said a survey would be conducted to ascertain the businesses and matrimonial relations of Afghan refugees with the Pakistan nationals. The meeting decided that a grand operation was required to remove the Afghan settlement from Sector I-11/4 area in which police and other law-enforcement agencies would take part. The grand operation, he said, would be conducted after completion of survey by the committee formed by the prime minister.

The official said the authorities concerned had been directed to stop the Afghan refugees from establishing their graveyard in the temporary settlement. The meeting observed that Afghans were involved in the increasing crime rate in and around Islamabad.