SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency) – After almost a six-year-long dislocation from their homes, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the South Waziristan Agency, who were dislocated during military Operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009 are finally returning to their homes in a phased repatriation drive started by the government on Monday, March 16. During the first phase of the repatriation that ends on April 4, 5,000 families comprising 45,000 people will be transported to their hearths and homes. The government will give Rs 35,000 to each family for relocation expenses as well as rations for six months. The resettlement and rehabilitation of the IDPs will be a long and complicated process because the operation halted the functioning of life in South Waziristan and caused damage to homes, buildings and infrastructure. The government will not only have to provide aid and succour to the displaced families but will have to work on the development of the entire region to bring normalcy back into these people’s disrupted lives. The development and restoration of the affected regions will have to be worked into the IDPs’ return schedule and all-encompassing projects started to prevent the further deterioration of this already underdeveloped and neglected region. The relevant authorities must ensure the appropriate dispersal of funds and resources to the IDPs and curtail the corruption, mishandling and inefficiency that tend to plague such governmental projects.
Both the civilian authorities and the military establishment have vowed to work towards the betterment and seamless return of these uprooted people. A military official stated: “As far as the military is concerned, we are ready to facilitate in whatever possible manner to ensure the orderly return of IDPs.” The IDPs of North Waziristan have complained about the government constantly changing their dates of return and the fact that their children are being deprived of education during their displacement under Operation Zarb-e-Azb. After being forced to leave their homes, living in the deplorable conditions of makeshift tents and camps and being deprived of education and other basic necessities, these people deserve to go home to favourable conditions of life; anything less would negate the gains of the military operations. The government has allotted funds to those whose homes have either been damaged or destroyed during the operations. However, it is also the government’s duty to rebuild the infrastructure of both North and South Waziristan where these extensive military operations have taken place. Public facilities, such as clean water and energy, need to be provided and schools and hospitals rebuilt and made functional as soon as possible. With all the attendant problems associated with picking up the broken threads of their lives again from where they were broken, the IDPs of South Waziristan today, and hopefully North Waziristan tomorrow, are poised to march towards a brighter, hopefully peaceful future, to ensure which requires eternal vigilance against any attempt at a return by the terrorists.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
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