‘Over 2,500 families displaced to make way for economic corridor’

Baloch Human Rights Organisation asks media, stakeholders to protect their homes

KARACHI: A total of 2,578 families have been displaced in order to make way for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), claimed Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO) on Tuesday.

These people have been forced to leave their homes in Hoshab, Awaran, Jhalawan and Koh-e-Suleman and move to Karachi, Turbat, Hub Chowki and other areas, said BHRO chairperson Bibi Gul Baloch as she addressed a press conference at Karachi Press Club.



She demanded the media and other stakeholders join hands with them together to highlight the issues that the people of Balochistan are facing. She urged the media to report the number of people killed, abducted and forcefully detained in the province, before adding that new development projects are hardly of any benefit to the local population.

According to her, a total of 607 people have been killed in Balochistan in 2016 and 113 of these were unidentified bodies. In the same year, thousands of people have been abducted and have gone missing and BHRO has managed to collect details of only 1,809 of them. "The families of the missing persons are tired of seeking help from the civil society and other forums," she said, complaining that no one speaks up for their rights.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2017.