Phase two: Repatriation of Orakzai IDPs to begin from July 20

Political agent says around 5,000 families will be repatriated

HANGU: The second phase of repatriation of the displaced population of Ali Khel, Bezoot and Utman Khel areas in Orakzai Agency will commence from July 20 as the resettlement survey has been completed.

While addressing journalists on Tuesday, Orakzai Agency Political Agent Muhammad Zubair Khan said 5,000 families will be repatriated in the second phase. He said 1,800 registered families of Upper Orakzai Agency have been repatriated so far.

He added the verification of 5,000 families has also been completed and the repatriation will be completed by July 30. He added each family will be given Rs25,000 as a return package and Rs10,000 for transport purposes.

The backdrop

In Orakzai Agency, 21,852 displaced families from the area have returned. Over 18,000 unverified families have also returned home. In Kurram Agency, 28,731 registered displaced families, 87% of 33,024 displaced families, have returned home. Over 14,000 unverified families have also returned home.

Over 84% of the displaced families in Frontier Region Tank — an estimated 1,871 of them — have been repatriated. South Waziristan accounted for the lowest rate of returns with only 23,471 families or 33% of 71,124 families from the agencies returning so far. There are unverified reports of over 22,000 families returning on their own.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2016.