Kabul, April 14 (Xinhua) Pakistan would shut down four Afghan refugee camps in the next four months, country director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Afghanistan Salvadore Lombardo said Saturday.
The step is being taken in the wake of an agreement reached among Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNHCR, which is the UN refugee agency, in February 2007, he told a press conference here.
These camps include Katchagari with a population of over 54,000, Pir Alizai with a population of 35,000, Jalozai with 108,000 populations and Girdi Jungle with a population of 43,000 people, the official said.
More than 400,000 Afghan refugees are expected to return home from Pakistan in 2007 and so far over 100,000 have returned home since the resumption of voluntary repatriation on March 1, he said.
The UNHCR has assisted about 4 million Afghan refugees since 2002 to return their home country, while 1 million more refugees have returned on their own.
More than 3 million more Afghans are still living in Pakistan and Iran as refugees waiting for conducive condition to return home.
