Voicing concerns: Bugti IDPs protest in Lasbela

QUETTA: Internally displaced people (IDPs) from Dera Bugti staged a demonstration outside the Lasbela press club on Tuesday demanding immediate rehabilitation of 80,000 people who had been displaced from Dera Bugti in 2006. Protesters shouted slogans against the government for failing to fulfil their demands despite a lapse of several years. “The government allocated Rs1 billion for the rehabilitation of Bugti IDPs but we believe this amount was embezzled since local administration has failed to rehabilitate a single affected family,” the protesters said. They alleged that some local leaders of Dera Bugti distributed the amount among their supporters and well-wishers. Protesters called upon the government and the authority concerned to take notice of this serious humanitarian issue and ensure the rehabilitation of Bugti IDPs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2012.