CHITRAL, July 9: The repatriation of Afghan refugees from Chitral will cast negative impact on the local economy, says a survey in Chitral as the process of repatriation is in its full swing.

About 90 per cent of those surveyed responded that the arrival of Afghan refugees after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a blessing in disguise,

They contend that the influx of Afghans in Chitral did not multiply their problems but allayed them.

They described the employment of locals in the Afghan refugees department, the flow of international aid to the area benefiting the locals indirectly, the development of competition in the local market and the widening of the base of local economy and the provision of cheaper labour.