Thousand of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are returning from various camps to their home towns in war affected areas of Swat, Dir, Malakand and Buner etc.
Most of the rehabilitation process has been done but still some of the IDPs are in camps. Pakistan Army operations are completed in almost 90 per cent of those areas, and only search operations will be carried out in the remaining some places.
The IDPs are returning home amid fears in their minds and reservations over law and order situation , but it has a certain reason behind it and that is in fact there is no substitute for home, while in case of camps its certainly not.
Although they were provided basic facilities by the people and the government and of course by the help of international community, but everything was impossible to be provided in the camps at the same time too.
The matter of IDPs is one the worst human crisis in the world as millions of persons were displaced from their homes and had no option other than to live their life of Refugees in the camps in their own country.
The situation in those camps was worst. People were hungry. Because of the curfew there was a shortage of food. They were running out of stored food items. But they were at risk every time they go out as they might be targeted by the Taliban or the army.
There were many Taliban commanders in their village. Their intelligence was so good, they know what they discuss in our homes.
Many persons were slaughtered in Mingora city. Their dead bodies were left on the road for four days and nobody handed it over to their parents.
Among the IPDs a girl was telling her story, “A militant group from a nearby village, all of them young boys, used to come to our girls' college to intimidate the girls. They were checking the faces of girls and were saying things like "I love you" and similar nonsense. One day this group tortured a female school teacher.
I wanted to complete an MBA course. Now the colleges are closed, schools are destroyed, education is impossible. Women can't even go out on the streets any more.
I know who the local Taliban are. I know them personally. Some of them are my distant relatives. A friend of mine works for the police here and he knows them too, but he can't do anything. The ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] targeted and destroyed the police force structure, clearing ground for Taliban activities.
In the past, when people have come forward with the details of Taliban they know, they have been betrayed.
So I don't know who we can trust with that information now.
Everybody here is against the Taliban. But for me there is a big question mark over the dedication of the Pakistani army.
The Taliban have their own FM radio station. How come they can be traced by foreign media to give interviews, but they can't be traced and killed by the Pakistani army?
Mingora city is under Taliban control. What is the army doing about it?”
the problem has almost been solved, however some of the IDPs are still in camps.
ReplyDeleteI am basically from Jalozai village and I have my self observed the miseries of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs). Life in Jalozai camps is tough and unsafe for thousands IDPs Where Misery is perceptible everywhere. The came some years ago accommodated Afghan refugees, is now home to thousands of internally displaced persons from Bajaur and Khyber Agency, where government troops have been fighting militants, made there villages so unsafe which left them with no choice but to flee. According to an estimate More than 24000 IDPs are living in Jalozai camp in 35,000 tents provided by NGOs. The act is that tent life is very hard, vulnerable to current cold weather and rains make it still tougher. They have been sick with fever especially children. The locals of the areas are also very worried about the IDPs. They we live just like cattle. On daily basis they are complaining about lack of safety and facilities at the camp. Facilities are very poor. there are no proper cooking arrangements and no security in fact they are facing basic problems of life. Our Government had not been efficient in dealing with the issues related to IDPs . International NGOs efforts were being made to improve conditions, and that its focus had been on site planning for tents settlement and providing safe water to residents.
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