Islamabad, June 26: Bitter fighting between the Afghan government and its Taliban opposition is forcing the United Nations to shut down a refugee camp, leaving thousands of afghans in search of places to stay, a spokesman said today.
The United Nations is offering the refugees a choice: relocation to other camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan, or money to return to homes they abandoned nearly two years ago, said UN refugee agency spokesman Jack Redden.
The refugee camp, near Chaman on the Afghan border, opened soon after the October 2001 war on terror began in Afghanistan. Thousands fled the coalition bombing, but were stranded in Pakistan after it sealed its borders to stop the flow of refugees.
Pakistan refused to welcome more Afghan exiles, despite appeals from the international community.
While the United Nations never officially recognized the camp near Chaman as a refugee facility, it did provide its inhabitants with assistance.
Now it wants to shut down the camp because it cannot guarantee the refugees' safety.
``It was never officially a refugee camp. It is considered an insecure place,'' Redden said.
In recent months the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region has seen several pitched battles between Afghan government militias and suspected Taliban trying to make a comeback.
Most of the refugees in the soon-to-be-dismantled camp are ethnic Pashtuns, Afghanistan's majority ethnic group, which dominated the Taliban.
Bureau Report
