Beyond devastation: Burki tribe refuses to register for repatriation

Jirga decides there are no homes or facilities to return to

DI KHAN: The displaced population from South Waziristan Agency’s Burki tribe has refused to register for repatriation until the government does not address their grievances.

This was decided at a jirga at Town Hall, Tank district on Saturday.

The tribespeople were displaced following Operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009 launched against militants in South Waziristan Agency. The tribe’s native area is Kani Gurram, a mountainous village in
Ladha tehsil.

According to jirga members, their homes have destroyed and there are no facilities for health, education and electricity. The jirga decided that it would be impossible to return in such conditions.

“If I do not have a home, how will I live?” jirga member Noor Muhammad Burki said. “I have seen the destruction firsthand as I was among the elders who had gone to the area.” Repairing or making a house on a mountain is not an easy job and it takes time
and money.”

He added the government should provide at least Rs1,000,000 for each house. The jirga has given the government till March 31 to address their grievances and has also constituted an 18-member committee to negotiate the matter.

The registration for repatriation begun on March 24 at the Tank political compound and will continue till April 2.

Although the registration process is under way, the Burki tribe refused to be part of the process. Government officials were unavailable to comment on the matter despite repeated attempts to contact them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2016.