Major phase of Afghan refugee camps' closure picks up pace

The federal government has accelerated a major phase of the closure of Afghan refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the voluntary repatriation programme, speeding up the process of electricity disconnection, transferring water supply systems, and handing over all education and health facilities to district administrations and relevant departments, said a report.

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Officials said the operation is being carried out on a district-by-district basis to ensure that no assets or facilities remain outside government control. Voluntary repatriation from all refugee camps is continuing alongside this process.

Citing federal government sources, the report said that the phased operation is being implemented with the cooperation of the KP administration, which is fully supporting the process. Earlier, the KP government had strongly opposed the idea of shutting down all camps at once.

Across KP, a total of five Basic Health Units (BHUs) have so far been handed over to the KP Department of Health.

In the education sector, seven out of 20 schools established in refugee camps have been handed over to the Department of Education, while the handover of the remaining schools is progressing rapidly.

In Chitral, both refugee camps have been completely closed.

The camps were handed over to the Deputy Commissioner, and all movable and immovable assets and facilities present at the camps were formally transferred to the district administration.