ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: The government has decided to close down Afghan refugee camps in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan border and move some 60,000 refugees out of the capital by the end of month, the UN said Saturday.

“In a move to further consolidate the Afghan refugee population... the government has announced its decision to close all camps in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata),” the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement. A decision has also been taken to move Afghan refugees now scattered in and around the federal capital, the UNHCR added.

Camps in Bajaur and Kurram agencies would be closed by August 31, it said.

“The refugees will be offered a choice of voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan or relocation within Pakistan,” it said.

The UNHCR said that it ‘supported’ the relocations as clashes between suspected Al Qaeda linked militants and Pakistani security forces had made it ‘impossible’ to assist the refugees properly.

Camps in South Waziristan Agency were closed last year and those in the North Waziristan Agency were closed at the end of June.—AFP

In Balochistan, one camp was closed in July while another would be emptied by the end of August, the UN body said.

Meanwhile, more than 60,000 Afghan refugees around the federal capital were also set to move.—AFP