SWABI, April 15: The local administration and representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) have asked the Afghan displaced persons (DPs) to register their families for voluntary repatriation to their homeland.

An administration official told Dawn here on Tuesday that UNHCR representatives Mohammad Adil and Farkhanda recently visited the two refugee camps in Gohati and Gandaf for this purpose.

During their visit, he said they informed the Afghan DPs about the UNHCR plan and the procedure of registration and repatriation to Afghanistan.

He said despite the return of many families to Afghanistan, there were still about 20,000 DPs living in the two camps of the district.

He said they were informed that those who secured registration with the UNHCR, the agency would make all arrangements for their return to their respective villages in Afghanistan.

When contacted, the DPs’ representatives said the lack of provision of security and adequate supply of food were the main hurdles in their return to the motherland.

The Karzai government, they further said, had miserably failed to restore law and order to the country, specially to the far-flung areas.

Only the capital city was under control of the interim dispensation, they added.

The warlords, they maintained, controlled different areas and had established their own rule, while looting at gunpoint continued unabated. “I have earned my livelihood with dignity and face no security problems in Pakistan.

Why should I push my family into the troubled waters?” questioned a refugee, Gul Agha.

However, some DPs opined that they wanted to return to their country and play their role in its reconstruction, and demanded of the Karzai government to take steps to provide security to the people.

Meanwhile, the leaders of various political parties welcomed the UNHCR move for repatriation of the Afghan DPs from the district camps.

The arrangements for the repatriation of the DPs, they said, were very important because they had been creating various problems for the locals. Some of them had been indulging in illegal activities, they added.