Nowhere to go

At an urgent meeting, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided that some 95,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) still housed at the Jalozai Camp near Nowshera must return home by June 7. After this cut-off date, no facilitation will be provided to them in terms of transport back home and other assistance to move back large families that have, in some cases, been based at Jalozai for years. Around 65,000 of those currently based in Jalozai are from Bajaur Agency. Many of the others are from the Mohmand and Khyber regions, which have in recent months seen fierce fighting.

There can be no doubt at all that many of those living under the flimsy tents and makeshift shacks of Jalozai would wish to return home and resume normal life. This is all the more true given the rise in temperatures which makes camp conditions all the more miserable. But as a significant number of those still based at camps point out, they have nowhere to go. Homes were, in many cases, demolished during the fighting — and the IDPs would be returning to a situation where they have literally no roof over their heads. In addition, the loss of livestock and land leaves them without means to earn a livelihood. While the Fata disaster management authorities are saying compensation is to be given to those who have lost homes, there seems to be some lack of clarity about this among the IDPs. Many have also seen the confusion over such issues in the past, with amounts of money never reaching those for whom they are intended.

It is, of course, necessary that at one point or the other the IDPs leave the camps. The mass displacement we have seen since 2009 cannot continue indefinitely; nor can the chaos and misery it creates. But forced repatriation offers no solution. It lies outside the spectrum of the rules international organisations follow and of basic humanitarianism. The IDPs have suffered a great deal already, through no fault of their own. They deserve now to be treated with compassion and dignity, and for their views to be heard as plans are finalised for a return home.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.