Homeward bound

200 families, displaced almost six years ago, are on their way back to their ancestral lands in South Waziristan

Pakistan is a country awash with displaced persons, many of them having lived here for decades. All in varying degrees want to return home — a process that is fraught with difficulty in itself. Six years ago, Operation Rah-e-Nijat forced hundreds of thousands from South Waziristan and now another batch, the twelfth, numbering 200 families are on their way back to their ancestral lands. It is hoped that the current phase of repatriation will total 5,000 families numbering 41,000 people will be heading off for a new start. The army is to provide security to them on their journey and the government gave Rs10,000 to each family to cover transport costs, with a promise of a further Rs25,000 in future. The entire process is scheduled to last 15 days and re-populates 14 villages.

This deserves a qualified welcome. Qualified because six years is a long time to be away from home and many will have put down roots; and there is uncertainty, entirely justified, being expressed at what may be awaiting them when they get back. Fears about having no home to go to are real, and the government’s assertion that the localities they are going back to have been equipped with basic facilities such as power supplies, schools, potable drinking water and paved roads is all very well — but of little use if there is no home to go to. The families are unlikely to be sitting on much by way of personal wealth, and will have to rebuild their livestock from scratch in many instances. The government has also promised that families that have lost their homes will be entitled to a grant of Rs400,000 — which in these expensive days is not going to build much beyond a basic shelter. And there is no guarantee that the reason these people were displaced originally is not going to resurface, and the terrorists embed themselves once again necessitating a repeat of the cycle of upheaval. We wish this process every success and hope peace and security can once again come into the lives of the displaced of South Waziristan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  20^th,  2015.

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