ISLAMABAD / HANGU: In what appears to be the first definite indication that the ongoing military operations in the tribal areas may be nearing end, a government minister said on Wednesday that a phased repatriation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) will start by mid-February.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in North Waziristan Agency in June last year after a government’s peace initiative with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan fell apart following a brazen attack on the Karachi airport. In October, security forces started an offensive in parts of Khyber Agency codenamed Khyber-I.
Hundreds of thousands of tribesmen were displaced by these operations. These tribesmen, officially designated as IDPs, were sheltered in various camps in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Some of them, however, preferred to live with the relatives elsewhere in the country.
Speaking at a new conference on Wednesday, Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch said repatriation of these IDPs would be started in 2nd or 3rd week of next month but would take around one year to complete.
“Rehabilitation of around two million IDPs will cost Rs100 billion and efforts are being made to raise funds for the process,” he said, adding that the reconstruction phase would also need billions of rupees. “It is not an easy task to arrange such huge amount for this noble purpose,” he added.
The Safron minister said the plight of the IDPs could not be highlighted in an effective manner and people could not be properly mobilised to help them due to the long sit-ins in Islamabad, staged by PTI and PAT.
The minister said efforts were being made to send back all Afghan refugees by December and modalities were also being finalised with all stakeholders, including UNHCR and Afghan government, for their honourable return.
Meanwhile, a senior army official said the IDPs from Orakzai Agency would be repatriated within five months after Khyber Agency was cleared of militants.
Addressing a high-level meeting on the IDPs of Orakzai Agency at Hangu on Wednesday, Operation Commander Brigadier Jillani said 50% area of Khyber Agency has been cleared of militants.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2015.
