NOWSHERA, June 30: The departure of the Afghan refugees from different camps in the Frontier province has picked up momentum as around 1,000 families have left the Jalozai camp in the Nowshera district during the last 10 days, official sources informed Dawn on Friday.

The UNHCR officer-in-charge of the reporting centre in Azakhel, Joseck Manyar, said that since April 15, when the centre was set up, some 150,000 refugees had returned to their country.

He said the residences of those 1,000 families, comprising around 6,000 people, who were repatriated from the Jalozai camp, had also been demolished by the authorities.

Mr Joseck said that the returning refugees were being provided assistance in their home districts in Afghanistan. All sorts of health care facilities were also being provided to the repatriating refugees so that they might not encounter difficulties in rehabilitation, he added.