Hundreds of thousands have crossed illegally

No-one knows exactly how many Afghan refugees live in Pakistan because hundreds of thousands of people have crossed into the country illegally.

One estimate is that the total is now about 3m of whom perhaps 200,000 fled from Afghanistan since the start of the US-led bombing.

This is despite the fact Pakistan kept its border with Afghanistan officially closed.

Repatriation next?

Now Pakistani officials say they plan to move Afghan refugees from urban areas to designated camps.

This move is widely seen here as a first step towards starting repatriations, once an interim government is established in Kabul.

Thousands of children need help

Officials haven't explained how they would identify the refugees some of whom have lived in Pakistan for more than 20 years.

If this idea were really implemented it could prove highly controversial, as well as logistically fraught.

Economic pressures

UNHCR officials say they would help with returns as and when it's safe to do so.

But they also say any plan which involved forcibly picking out refugees from existing communities and moving them to camps against their will would be unacceptable.

The announcement could be an attempt to appease growing public impatience.

Many here see the refugees as a growing financial burden which has been imposed on them at a time when Pakistan's own economy is already being damaged by this latest Afghan crisis.