Assistance: IDPs camp closed, families return home

Over 4,000 people return to their homes.

PESHAWAR:

The Nahqi camp for the internally displaced in Mohmand Agency closed after all families living there voluntarily returned to their homes.

During a two-day operation assisted by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the camp’s population of over 4,000 people returned to their homes.

The Nahqi camp was established by the FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) with the support of UNHCR in January this year, to accommodate thousands of people fleeing conflict zone across the border.

“Living in a camp is not easy but restarting lives is another tremendous challenge for returning families. They will need continued support from humanitarian agencies to rebuild their lives back home,” said Ahmed Warsame, UNHCR’s Head of Office in Peshawar.

UNHCR field teams and officials from the FDMA were present in the camp to ensure that all returns were voluntary. Some 2,000 families living outside the camp have also started to return.

However, more than 350,000 people displaced by conflict of Fata are still living in Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa Province host communities till now.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2011.