PESHAWAR, May 14: Police have obtained surety bonds from hundreds of Afghan refugees about staying in the provincial capital peacefully, officials told Dawn on Sunday.

A senior official said that the crime rate in Peshawar and its suburbs had increased mainly due to the presence of Afghan refugees. “Now we are trying to ensure that these refugees lead a peaceful life in Peshawar,” the official said.

The government has already issued eviction notices to Afghan refugees living in Kacha Ghari and Jalozai camps and urged them to return to their country.

Sources said the government and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had set a deadline for repatriation of Afghan refugees this year.

But reports indicate that many refugees in Peshawar and its suburbs were reluctant to go back to Afghanistan, particularly those who have a criminal background.

“Some Afghans who allegedly committed crimes in Afghanistan had fled to Pakistan. They repeated their illegal activity here and again ran away to their country. So this move will discourage such behaviour,” the sources said.

Most of the Afghan refugees were arrested by the University Town and Faqirabad police under section 55/109 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), they said.

Launched in the city a week ago, the campaign will continue until enough data is collected about illegal Afghans, they added.

The campaign will help rid society of crime and assist the government in collating figures about refugees staying illegally in Peshawar, the sources said.

University Town Police has been arresting on a daily basis some 25 to 30 Afghan refugees. The refugees are later released on a personal surety bond from a responsible figure of their community in the presence of a judicial magistrate.

“And if an accused Afghan commits a crime in future, the person who has filled the surety bond will be held responsible,” the senior official said.

Board and Tajabad localities on Jamrud Road were the main places were the police have intensified their hunt for the illegal Afghan refugees.

In the past, the police used to charge Afghan refugees with other crimes in addition to the charge of illegally staying in Pakistan. Several hundred refugees were deported via the Torkham border under the same charges.

“But this time we have decided to avoid the hue and cry from human rights organisations,” the official said and added that this step would not annoy any of the international human rights groups and would also help curb crime and violence in the city.