60,000 Afghans ordered to leave tribal areas

[LRE]

60,000 Afghans ordered to leave tribal areas



Wednesday, October 08, 2008
KHAR: Pakistan has ordered around 60,000 Afghan refugees to leave thw tribal areas, officials said on Tuesday.

The deportation order came after a deadline set for them to go back to their homeland expired on Sunday, security officials said. “On the orders of the interior ministry we have launched a crackdown against Afghan refugees who did not leave the area,” government official Abdul Haseeb said.

He said that most of the Afghans were in Bajaur illegally, having sneaked back in across the porous border around two years after returning to Afghanistan under a UN-backed repatriation programme. “But there are also reports about Afghan refugees' involvement in militant and anti-social activities, that is why they were being expelled,” Haseeb said.

The security forces have arrested around 40 Afghans and sealed shops owned by Afghans, he said, adding: “There will be no extension in the deadline.” “It should not be a problem for most of them because they have to just cross the border and go home,” the official said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=139908