LAHORE: The Punjab government has changed its decision of housing Afghan refugees in the sub-campuses of three public sector universities in Kala Shah Kaku.

Earlier, the government had started working to ‘temporarily’ house the Afghans arriving in Pakistan in wake of the recent developments in the neighbouring country.

The law enforcement agencies and city district administration officials had issued directions to vacate the sub-campuses of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Government College University (GCU) and University of Health Sciences (UHS) in Kala Shah Kaku.

Following the directions, the administrations of these varsities had ordered their students and employees to vacate the residences, hostels and offices.

Meanwhile, the teachers and students showed reservation over leaving the campuses.

They said that the closure of hostels would affect their studies which had already been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

A senior official told Dawn that the city administration had started installing tents and placing beds in the sub-campuses which had now been removed.

He said the city district administration had told them the Afghan refugees were not expected in Lahore for the time being.

Another official said that the plan to house the Afghans in the sub-campuses had been changed and the city district administration was thinking of hosting them at some marriage halls in and around Raiwind.

He said policemen deployed outside the sub-campuses had left, while the varsities had been allowed to resume their academic activities. A senior police officer said the plan to host the refugees in Lahore had been changed as they would be accommodated in Karachi.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2021