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Hanif saheb, we are very glad to see you visit these refugee camps
to see these poor refugees, we are grateful to you
My name is Sd. Mohammed Basharat Khan
I look after the refugees here in Muzaffarabad
I am the Refugee Welfare Officer
These refugees who migrated to Muzaffarabad
crossed over from occupied Kashmir to Azad Kashmir in March 1990
We established our first camp in March 1990, it was Ambore
There are currently 7 administrative unit [districts]
Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Poonch, Pallandri, Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimber
Out of these 7 districts, we have installed refugee camps in 4
and are housing these refugees in tent communities
Currently in Muzaffarabad district there are 8 refugee camps
Bararkot, Ambore, Dimishi, Karka, Kansar, Heer Kotli, Kel and Hattian
These are the 8 refugee camps in our Muzaffarabad district
In Kel, due to harsh weather, the refugees are staying with locals
relatives and others, we get aid to them there
The 2 camps in Bagh, Chattar and Kahuta
The Kahuta refugees are living with locals and we provide the facilities
The Chattar camp is a tent community
In Kotli district we have 2 camps
one is in Gulpur and the other in Kotli Sulwhan
There is one camp in Poonch, people are living with locals
at Madarpur
As far as facilities provided by Azad Kashmir govt are concerned
these poor people from Occupied Kashmir
we can take care of them as much as we would like but
like they lived in their homes with their families and land
what they left behind, we cannot provide that
but we are doing what we can, what our govt can afford
we are taking care of them according to our means
We are providing them with a living allowance
Rs20 per day is paid to each person
and Rs30 per day is paid to the family head
so we give them Rs20 per day per person depending on family size
so each person is receiving Rs600 per month from Azad Kashmir govt
When a refugee first arrives we give them between Rs600-2,000
to allow them to buy basic items to get started
So when that person is issued with an [ID] card and arrives at a camp
we provide a tent depending on the family size
for 4-5 persons we provide one tent, for more than 5 persons we provide more tents
The children are receiving schooling and an educational allowance in addition to the living allowance
which is Rs100 per student for each month for class 1 to 10th
for above 10th upto university level we provide Rs150 per month
We have primary schools in each camp which have teachers from the camp
If a refugee dies here in the camp we provide Rs1000 for the funeral
The living allowance we provide is not restricted to age
whether its is a day old child or a 100 year old man we give them Rs100
Currently, Hanif saheb, our total monthly expenditure are more than Rs8 million
Also water supply, electricity, dispensary and knitting centres are provided
This is a dispensary, where we are sitting, there is a dispenser present at all times
and a qualified doctor makes regular visits
if necessary patients are referred to our local CMH [hospital] only a few kms away
or the nearby Institute of Medical Sciences
where medical facilities are present
For minor conditions, the dispenser will deal here
There is a needlework and knitting centre here for women
to keep them occupied. They do embroidery which is a Kashmiri skill
We [govt] are not receiving any kind of aid
we are only receiving aid in Azad Kashmir and donors in Pakistan
We have not received any aid from UN, UNICEF or Red Cross
we were informed that UN gets involved with more than 10,000 refugees
our refugee numbers have reached more than 12,000
but we have not received any kind of help or aid from the UN
However, our Azad Kashmir govt is providing for these refugees
Electricity, water supply, education are provided free
no child is suffering here, there is no problem here
Everything is free, education medical care, all is free