Decisive crack down on Afghan refugees still residing in KP

Tarqi Saeed Tightening the noose around lacs of Afghan refugees illegally residing in the provincial capital and parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and yet to leave for their homeland despite the expiry of the final deadline for the repatriation, the provincial government is set to come really hard on them. It was learnt that the district administrations have been tasked to initiate crackdown on all those Refugees who are not still residing across the province but also running huge businesses including transport, leather products, eateries and even currency shops. Not only the plazas and shops run by the refugees are going to be sealed but strict action is being initiated against those renting out their houses to refugees. The security sources told Observer they apprehend that among those Afghan Refugees still residing in different districts, may be the facilitators of the terrorists carrying out subversive acts against the civilians as well as the Security Forces. In line with the Federal Government Policy to come hard on the Afghan refugees still residing in Pakistan the authorities, it may be recalled, had notified immediate closure of all camps of Afghan refugees across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in October last. A large number of Afghan Refugees camps were established in KP to accommodate the highest number of Afghan Refugees who migrated to Pakistan after the Russian invasion of their country. While the number of Refugees housed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had crossed even 3 million at one time, the largest Afghan Refugees camps were established in Kaccha Ghari and the Jalozai in the outskirts of the provincial metropolis. Both the camps were closed years back after the establishment of Taliban Government in Kabul. However, a number of camps continued to exist in DI Khan, Malakand and Hazara divisions. The refugee camps were shut down in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Mansehra. Afghan refugee camps in Charsadda and Malakand have also been closed. The gover