Pakistan shuts down 42 refugee camps housing Afghans for over four decades

PESHAWAR — The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan on Wednesday said it has shut down as many as 42 camps that had housed Afghan refugees for over 40 years.

Millions of Afghan refugees crossed into Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, being a bordering province, hosted the largest number of these refugees for decades.

Authorities maintain that the closure of the almost 45-year-old refugee camps aims to streamline the system of refugee residence and registration in the province and to ensure the elimination of illegal and unregulated camp residents.

Official sources said on Wednesday that the process of closure of the camps was carried out in two phases.

In the first phase, five refugee camps were closed, while the remaining 37 camps located across the province were closed in the second phase on Tuesday.

The provincial government has duly informed the federal government about the latest developments, the sources said.

The primary objective behind the closure of the camps was to take the repatriation of Afghan refugees to its logical conclusion, said officials.

Deployment of police and other law enforcement agencies was ensured during the closure drive, and action against unregistered Afghan refugees in line with government policy was taken.

Following the shutdown, the voluntary repatriation process has also gained momentum, with more than 3,00,000 refugees preparing their return to Afghanistan.

The officials described the closure of these refugee camps as a significant policy milestone in managing refugee affairs and restoring administrative order in the province.