PAN, May 5, 2008

35,000 Afghan refugees flee as Jalozai Camp bulldozed

4,000 families comprising over 35,000 persons went from the camps to various districts

PESHAWAR: More than 5,755 families have so far returned to Afghanistan after their 2,808 houses at Jalozai camp, the biggest Afghan refugee camp, were bulldozed, sources said on Monday.

As per the statistics of the Afghan Commissioner Office, 17,000 families comprising 125,000 registered people were camped, among them, 33,200 families went back to Afghanistan while one thousand unregistered families have crossed the Pak-Afghan border and about 6,000 families are still at the camp who will vacate it by May 15.

The Afghan Commissioner Office sources said that about 4,000 families comprising over 35,000 persons went from the camps to various districts, which is strange, because they succeeded in escaping despite security arrangements by the FC, the police and various check-outs.

On the other hand, the UN organization for Afghan Refugees representative said that this is not their responsibility but the administration is responsible for that.

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