ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees, Syed Asif Shah said on Tuesday that the administration was facing shortage of funds for tackling the influx of refugees as the foreign assistance for about 3.1 million DPs has been discontinued since 1995.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Shah expressed his full confidence in what he termed foolproof arrangements made at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to check entry of any wanted person including Mulla Omar or Osama bin Laden.

To a question that how the refugee administration would screen out those entering Pakistan, he said: “There was a strict checking including body search of all those entering Pakistan by the border security agencies.”

When asked about ethnic tension in the refugee camps, the commissioner said: “At present there is no such tension at least on the ground and the security agencies are fully alert to meet any eventuality.”

Responding to a question, the CCAR maintained that despite intensive fighting, situation in Spin Boldak was still in control and there was no mass movement of Afghan nationals from there.

He expressed the confidence that more refugees could easily be accommodated in the two refugees camps set up across the border in the Roghani area.

He said that some 130,000 refugees were lodged at the two camps, one 5km away and the other at a distance of 10km from Chaman border.

Under the food security plan, he said, the World Food Programme was transporting food supplies into Afghanistan for distribution in the most affected areas. So far, the WFP has managed to distribute 56,000 tons of wheat in Afghanistan, he added.

Since security concerns persisted in most parts of the war-ravaged country, the representatives of the UN agencies were still waiting for conducive conditions to resume relief work for the affected people, he said.

The UNHCR, he said, had informed that about 10,000 Afghan refugees were clustering around the border with Iran in south Afghanistan, whereas there were no clusters around Tajikistan, Turkemenistan or Uzbek borders.

The commissioner said that at present there was no repatriation plan under consideration of the UNHCR and the process stood suspended since September last. However, around 100 Afghan refugees were returning to their homeland every day, he added.

He said a plan had been drawn by the federal government under which all Afghan refugees including registered and non-registered or living in urban centres would be shifted to the refugee camps.

In the first phase of the plan, refugee camps would be shifted to the tribal areas in the NWFP and Balochistan.

He said shifting about 30 per cent non-Pakhtoon refugees from Jalozai camp to a new camp in Parachinar and the remaining 70 per cent Pakhtoon refugees to the camp in Bajaur Agency was nearing completion.