Four Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan's border provinces will be closed this year as part of the Pakistani and Afghan governments' plans to manage the Afghan nationals in Pakistan.

The decision was reached Wednesday at the 12th Tripartite Commission meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UN refugee agency in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

For security and development reasons, the four camps in question, Girdi Jungle and Jungle Pir Alizai in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, and Katchagari and Jalozai in

North West Frontier Province (NWFP) was chosen for closure as early as 2004.

"We understand that security near the border is a top priority and stress that refugee camps must retain their civilian nature," said Guenet Guebre Christos, UNHCR's Representative in Pakistan.

"At the same time, the authorities should recognize genuine humanitarian needs as they have done in the last 30 years, and offer options to Afghans affected by camp closure," she said.

Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Pakistan's Minister of States and Frontier regions (SAFRON) who oversees refugee issues, noted that the four camps would be closed this summer. Katchagari and Jungle Pir Alizai will be closed by June 15 while Jalozai and Girdi

Jungle will be closed by Aug. 31.

Affected Afghans will be given a choice between voluntary repatriation assisted by UNHCR and, for those who cannot return in the immediate future, relocation to existing camps in Pakistan.

On the current registration of Afghans in Pakistan, Rind noted that some 2.1 million had already been registered and that the exercise was near completion. Registered Afghans are given proof of registration (POR) cards with a validity of three years that will be linked to new return modalities starting this spring, he said.

Under the new arrangements, the POR card holders who wish to repatriate must deregister their cards before leaving Pakistan in order to receive an enhanced reintegration package when they arrive in Afghanistan.

Afghans without the POR cards, who the government says will be subject to the laws of the land, will be given the only grace period of six weeks from March 1 to April 15 if they wish to avail of UNHCR assistance.

The refugee agency is doubling the return and reintegration package to an average of 60 U.S. dollars per returnee holding a POR card, while both governments are committed to mobilizing resources to further increase the package to 100 U.S. dollars per returnee.

To this end, Rind announced that the Pakistan government would contribute five million U.S. dollars to enhance the return and reintegration package.

"We believe that giving 100 U.S. dollars per returnee will help them to reintegrate in a more sustainable way," said Ustad Mohammad Akbar Akbar, Afghanistan's Minister for Refugees and

Repatriation.

He elaborated on projects within the country for reintegration, notably the land allocation scheme through which the Afghan government is establishing 50 townships in 29 provinces for returnees, and plans to establish a total of 100 such townships within three years.

The lack of land and shelter in Afghanistan is the biggest concern of Afghans in Pakistan today. According to the 2005 census of Afghans in Pakistan, 57 percent of Afghans said they could not return in the immediate future because they had no land or shelter to go back to.

To reflect the changing realities on the ground, the Tripartite Commission agreed to amend and extend the Tripartite Agreement governing voluntary repatriation till Dec. 31 2009, pending approval from both cabinets.

Source: Xinhua