Repatriation dates: NWA elders demand immediate return

PESHAWAR:

Elders from North Waziristan Agency along with scores of tribesmen protested on Monday outside the FATA Secretariat on Warsak Road to demand immediate repatriation to areas that have been cleared of militants.

Addressing the gathering, elder Malik Khan Marjan said the government is playing with the feelings of displaced people by changing the dates of repatriation again and again. “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has yet again announced a new date for repatriation–March 31,” he added.

Marjan said the government and security forces have claimed that 90% of North Waziristan has been cleared of terrorists but only people of 29 villages of Mir Ali tehsil would be repatriated in the first phase. The elder questioned that if a large portion of the agency has been cleared then why they are being sent back in small numbers.

The displaced people, he said, have rendered immense sacrifices for the country. “Children have been deprived of education during the period they were away from home and women have been wandering in search of shelter,” he said, adding the government and Pakistan Army should jointly come up with a solution to put an end to the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2015.