For the displaced: Govt urged to pay attention to IDPs

The government launched the military offensive in North Waziristan without any concrete plans for those who would be displaced because of it. This was said at a round table conference held on internally displaced people from the agency. According to press release, the conference was organised by the National Humanitarian Network (NHN) in Peshawar. Speakers maintained that ‘the poor performance of the National Database Registration Authority, lack of coordination among the government institutions and cold attitude of the government functionaries [toward IDPs] have added to the agonies of the displaced.’ NHN Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Coordinator Mohammad Hammad stressed on the need for close coordination among all institutions working to facilitate displaced people. “Floods and sit-ins by two political parties in Islamabad have diverted government attention,” he said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2014.