Battle for Pakistan: TDPs resettlement won’t be over until Dec 2016
Process of rehabilitation likely to last for another year and a half
Process of rehabilitation likely to last for another year and a half. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Even as the phased return of the families displaced by the ongoing military offensive against the Taliban begins, the government on Saturday cautioned that the last of the internal refugees won’t be able to return home until December 2016. This is seen as an indication that the government anticipates the operation to last for another year and a half.
According to an official release by the finance ministry, the return of the 336,762 families from the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will be undertaken in five phases and is scheduled to last between March 2015 and December 2016.
The details were released after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting to review the rehabilitation measures for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the flood-ravaged population in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The government expects the total expenditure on the rehabilitation of TDPs and security operations to cost Rs175 billion ($1.72 billion), a sharp 40% upward revision from the Rs125 billion the 11th Corps of the Pakistan Army had estimated earlier. The earlier estimate called for Rs75 billion for TDP rehabilitation and reconstruction and Rs50 billion for security. The costs increased after the government decided to expand the operation beyond North Waziristan.
The 11th Corps’ fresh estimates suggest that the military operation against the Taliban will continue for at least another year and a half and the government will need another couple of months to carry out reconstruction activities, said one official who attended the meeting. However, he said these timelines were tentative and subject to adjustments depending upon the progress achieved during the operation.
In June 2014, Pakistan launched a ground offensive in North Wazirstan aided by airstrikes. At that time the government had hoped that the militants would be flushed out from their safe heavens within six months. However, as the operation progressed, the military decided to expand it to other areas as well, particularly after the heinous attack on Army Public School in Peshawar.
The phased return of the Fata TDPs to their homes started on Monday. In the first phase, 25,000 families from Sararogha and Sarwakai in South Waziristan went back to their homes. The return of 20, 000 families from Bara in Khyber Agency began on Friday. Another 18,000 families from Mir Ali in North Waziristan will begin returning home from March 31, according to the TDP return plan unveiled by the office of K-P Governor Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi.
During the meeting, Economic Affairs Secretary Saleem Sethi said that the government had released Rs1.5 billion for cash transfers to the returnees. He said in the first phase, the Fata Secretariat was providing each returning family with a one-time Rs10,000 grant for transportation and Rs25,000 for subsistence. Payments were being made after identities and cellphone connections are being verified by the Nadra.
Last week, the Pakistan Army Deputy Chief of General Staff and Director General Military Budget had held a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and sought immediate release of Rs7 billion for meeting the cost of TDP rehabilitation.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2015.
Even as the phased return of the families displaced by the ongoing military offensive against the Taliban begins, the government on Saturday cautioned that the last of the internal refugees won’t be able to return home until December 2016. This is seen as an indication that the government anticipates the operation to last for another year and a half.
According to an official release by the finance ministry, the return of the 336,762 families from the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will be undertaken in five phases and is scheduled to last between March 2015 and December 2016.
The details were released after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting to review the rehabilitation measures for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the flood-ravaged population in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The government expects the total expenditure on the rehabilitation of TDPs and security operations to cost Rs175 billion ($1.72 billion), a sharp 40% upward revision from the Rs125 billion the 11th Corps of the Pakistan Army had estimated earlier. The earlier estimate called for Rs75 billion for TDP rehabilitation and reconstruction and Rs50 billion for security. The costs increased after the government decided to expand the operation beyond North Waziristan.
The 11th Corps’ fresh estimates suggest that the military operation against the Taliban will continue for at least another year and a half and the government will need another couple of months to carry out reconstruction activities, said one official who attended the meeting. However, he said these timelines were tentative and subject to adjustments depending upon the progress achieved during the operation.
In June 2014, Pakistan launched a ground offensive in North Wazirstan aided by airstrikes. At that time the government had hoped that the militants would be flushed out from their safe heavens within six months. However, as the operation progressed, the military decided to expand it to other areas as well, particularly after the heinous attack on Army Public School in Peshawar.
The phased return of the Fata TDPs to their homes started on Monday. In the first phase, 25,000 families from Sararogha and Sarwakai in South Waziristan went back to their homes. The return of 20, 000 families from Bara in Khyber Agency began on Friday. Another 18,000 families from Mir Ali in North Waziristan will begin returning home from March 31, according to the TDP return plan unveiled by the office of K-P Governor Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi.
During the meeting, Economic Affairs Secretary Saleem Sethi said that the government had released Rs1.5 billion for cash transfers to the returnees. He said in the first phase, the Fata Secretariat was providing each returning family with a one-time Rs10,000 grant for transportation and Rs25,000 for subsistence. Payments were being made after identities and cellphone connections are being verified by the Nadra.
Last week, the Pakistan Army Deputy Chief of General Staff and Director General Military Budget had held a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and sought immediate release of Rs7 billion for meeting the cost of TDP rehabilitation.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2015.