ISLAMABAD, April 17: About 70 Afghan refugee families, comprising 450 people, on Wednesday left for their homeland after a long stay in Pakistan.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Tariq Mehmood and representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) were also present on the occasion to see off the families.

Later, talking to reporters, the DC said the refugees were voluntarily returning to their homeland. He said the Afghans living in Punjab and the federal capital would be repatriated in three phases.

He said the UNHCR and a local non-government organization, Sharp, also cooperated in this regard with the government. The government, he added, had always extended its support to Afghan refugees during their stay in the country and it would play its role in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country and rehabilitation of its people.

The chairman of Sharp, Liaqat Banori, speaking on the occasion, said his organization had been working for the welfare of deprived, deserving and poor individuals for the last 10 years. It is also providing legal assistance to Afghan refugees, besides resolving their basic problems with the UNHCR support.

Talking to reporters, a 19-year-old Afghan girl, Arzo, said, “I am very happy on this day when I am returning to my home after a long period”.

Another refugee, Naeem Khan, said, “it is a great occasion for me that I am going back to my homeland. I will set up my home and start a job, and play my role in its reconstruction.”—APP