Government response to IDPs

The government's response to terrorist incidents has been resolute and decisive action. In late April, operation Rah-e-Rast was launched with the objective of rooting out terrorists completely from Swat/Malakand and establishing the writ of the government. However, as a consequence, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled the battle zone in search of safety in nearby Upper Dir, Malakand Agency, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, and Haripur.
The government announced the release of Rs 50 billion to the NWFP government for the relief, return and rehabilitation of the IDPs from Swat/Malakand. According to official figures, a total of 329, 792 families were displaced from Swat. Of these, 230,994 families have returned to their homes where they are being provided food as well as cash support by the government through the Special Support Group.
According to the Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, while addressing the National Assembly on 20 August 2009, the government had so far disbursed cash grant worth Rs 5.75 billion among 222,810 families through visa cards. He added that the major chunk of grants by international donors and agencies was spent through the UN agencies and World Food Programme, adding that the government got the amount spent through these organisations to ensure transparency in the system.
He told the NA that foreign assistance received from different organisations and countries in various forms amounted to $656 million which comprised food items, non-food items, and cash funds, adding that non-food items and food items weighed 790 tons 412 tons respectively. Registration of the IDPs was based on the verification by NADRA and on their return, each family was provided with free transportation, Rs 25,000 cash and one month ration at home.
The government was now carrying out a damage-need assessment in the affected areas by the line departments in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, and by the third and fourth week of September this year, the strategies and report in this regard would be finalised.
It may be recalled that the government had allocated Rs 50 billion for the relief and rehabilitation of the IDPs so that the rehabilitation process may not be affected if the country did not receive foreign assistance or it gets delayed. To another question, the information minister said that the displaced persons from Bajaur and FATA were also eligible to get the cash grants as well as a reconstruction package, adding that they would be getting cash cards shortly.
He said that the government was maintaining a record of all transactions on its website, adding that it was fortunate that no case of embezzlement had yet been reported. He told the House that further rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the affected areas would be carried out after finalisation of the damage assessment need and added that the World Food Programme had created food hubs though which food was being provided to affectees for the next six months.
He said that the repatriation of IDPs was going on in phases and they were being provided all possible assistance; he thanked the Punjab government for providing free flour to the affected families. So stands a synopsis of the government's timely response to the IDPs of Swat/Malakand, who are now being slowly rehabilitated for according to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the military solution is not the final solution to the troubles of Swat/Malakand. Rather, the government has adopted a 3R approach for these areas: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction.
After the military operation in Swat/Malakand, which lasted from April to June 2009, the government launched another operation, Rah-e-Nijat, this time in South Waziristan Agency, which is said to be the nerve centre of the Taliban and al Qaeda militants, including both local and foreign fighters.
After the death of Baitullah Mehsud, his son Hakimullah is the new gang leader of the militants, declaring war on the military and its supporters, namely the very citizens of Pakistan. The government's response has been the launch of a ground offensive in the Agency since October.
Thousands of inhabitants of the conflict-affected areas have so far fled to the neighbouring districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank in the southern area of North West Frontier Province and taken refuge with friends and family in local communities. It was in anticipation of a large exodus of civilians from the area that the Prime Minister held a high level meeting at the PM Secretariat, in which he announced the release of Rs 2.5 billion to the FATA Secretariat for aid to the IDPs.
In the first week of the operation, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira revealed that around 20,872 families had fled the area. The government had tactically been releasing reports since June of a military operation in South Waziristan, well before the operation began, apparently to give time to the civilian population to flee the area.
The Special Support Group headed by Lieutenant General (Retd) Nadeem Ahmed was entrusted by the government to complete the mass evacuation of 120,000 civilians from the conflict-ridden areas by 18 October .By the launch of the ground offensive, the government had already registered 11,000 families from South Waziristan Agency (SWA), whereas each newly migrated family was being provided Rs 5000 as food-aid through cash cards, while they were also provided money for the purchase of non-food items.
So far, the SSG has distributed cash cards/ATMs to 9,924 IDPs. The total number of people who have applied for registration as IDPs is 54,884. 33,981 of these cases have been sent to NADRA for processing, of which 24,141 have so far been verified. As in Swat, the government has launched a scheme whereby the registered IDPs will get Rs 5000 as cash for food for six months, whereas Rs 25,000 will be given to each family on return to their homes.
The SSG has established two field hospitals in DI Khan and Tank where 6000 patients, including women and children have been treated. Moreover 733 tons of rations have been donated by the Pakistan army, its various corps and by civilians for distribution to the IDPs in Miranshah, DI Khan, Wana and Tank.
In order to provide maximum facilities to the South Waziristan IDPs, the government has also solicited the help of UN agencies. Though the United Nations recently pulled out its foreign staff from NWFP and FATA at this critical stage, the local staff of its subordinate bodies is making efforts for the rehabilitation and support of IDPs.
"The UNHCR is distributing relief items like kitchen sets, sleeping mats, quilts and others items to the registered IDPs. Even those who are yet to be verified have been assisted," said spokesman for the UNHCR Pakistan, Qaisar Khan Afridi, adding the UN body had so far provided relief kits to more than 20,406 families in DI Khan and Tank, living with host communities, including more than 13,957 since October 21 when distribution resumed.
He added, the UNHCR was also supporting the registration of the displaced people, which is an important first step in receiving recognition of their status as displaced citizens and leads to the provision of other assistance. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), a body established to take care of IDPs, has set up a help-line (09-5278477), which can be contacted in case of any emergency, particularly pertaining to registration.
The authority is co-ordinating efforts of NGOs, UN agencies, government departments and other relief bodies to ensure better service to IDPs. The Special Support Group plans to provide relief items to the trapped people once the security forces move deeper into the agency.
The Government has so far not established formal camps for the South Waziristan IDPs. However, it could take several more days for camp plans to be finalised. As the displaced tribesmen preferred to live with their relatives, friends and also preferred rented houses in Tank and DI Khan, no official camp had so far been established.
According to the provincial relief commissioner, "No body is ready to live in the camps at the moment, however, we have identified two places for camps in DI Khan district," UNICEF estimates that 50,000 people are likely to settle in potential camps and 200,000 in host communities. The NWFP government is also set to establish more registration points in the adjacent districts of the South and North Waziristan.
It is difficult to estimate the total no. of South Waziristan IDPs as no official figures are available. However, according to the News on 8 November 2009, over 325,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the South Waziristan's Laddha, Makeen, Shakai, Badar, Manju, Lathka and other towns had registered their names till November 3 at the registration points in two districts: Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. The figure does not include those coming to Bannu, Hangu and Kohat.
This is not for the first time the tribesmen of the restive South Waziristan have been forced to leave their homes and take shelter in the nearby settled districts in search of peace and security. They have already done this twice in the past, in 2004 and again in 2007 - perhaps because they were the first victims of the "War on Terror", since it was launched in the region.
It is hoped that this final showdown between the Taliban militants and the military will bring the sufferings of the South Waziristan IDPs to a swift conclusion and they like the IDPs of Swat/Malakand will be able to return to their homes as soon as the conflict ends.