PESHAWAR, Feb 21: Afghan refugees have appealed to the Pakistan government to allow them to stay in the Kacha Garhi camp on the basis of the three-year Proof of Registration cards issued to them.

They said they would not vacate the settlement located on the western outskirts of the Peshawar city.

Elders of the camp here on Wednesday informed Janet Lim, director, Asia, for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, that they would neither go to Afghanistan under the UN voluntary repatriation programme nor move to any other place in Pakistan.

The UNHCR representative insisted that the camp elders should vacate the site and told them that the refugee agency would assist those families who were willing to move to another site identified by the Pakistan government.

The government has planned to relocate refugee families, who do not want to return to their homeland, to Dir and Chitral districts.

Ms Lim said a tripartite commission comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR had decided to vacate the Kacha Garhi camp by June. Residents of the camp should honour the agreement, she added.

She said refugees who did not have registration cards should approach the UNHCR verification centres before April 15 for monetary assistance.

However, the camp elders turned down the offer and said that the prevailing environment, particularly the security situation in Afghanistan, was not conducive for repatriation.