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PAKISTAN: War-Displaced Lament Poor Conditions

Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Jan 7 2010 (IPS) - Wracked by intense violence in 2009, Pakistan has seen an unprecedented displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, which persists to this day.

The internally displaced people (IDP) from South Waziristan Agency (SWA) may not be able to return home until March, said Brig. Omar Mahmood Khan, chief of staff of the Special Support Group (SSG), which was set up in May 2009 by the government to assist the people displaced by the fighting in Swat and Bajaur in the Malakand division of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and later in the SWA.

“This is the usual pattern even if there was no war. Most tribals would come down to the settled area (like Dera Ismail Khan, one of the 24 districts in the NWFP) and spend winters there,” he told IPS during a phone interview from the federal capital, Islamabad.

Habib-ur-Rehman Mehsud, 40, along with his wife and five children, his mother, his two brothers and their families, fled the SWA amid “heavy bombing and shelling” after the Pakistan military began an offensive against the Al Qaeda militants and its Pakistan allies, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in October last year.

They are among the 36,787 families – comprising approximately 300,000 individuals –that, according to the National Database and Registration Authority, have been displaced from the SWA since October and have taken refuge in the adjoining towns of Dera Ismail Khan (D.I. Khan) and Tank in NWFP, which have been spared by military operations.

They fled with nothing but the proverbial clothes on their backs to escape the heavy fighting between the security forces and the militants.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of displaced individuals across Pakistan at one million. It has described the displacement triggered by the violence gripping this South Asian country as one of the biggest humanitarian dilemmas of the world.

SWA is one of the seven tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, collectively known as the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). It is also one of the most backward areas of Pakistan and an Al Qaeda stronghold. The two tribes of Mehsud and Wazir form the bulk of the estimated 500,000 population of SWA, said Brig. Khan.

A UNHCR spokesperson said they had been preparing for the influx of IDPs since May 2009, when the first 80,000 people began fleeing SWA as well as Swat, Bajaur and Buner, where sporadic incursions have been taking place since early last year when the military seemingly cleansed the areas off militants. The newly displaced families from SWA are being provided with cash coupons two weeks after they register as IDPs. So far 27, 700 families have received these coupons that entitle each of them to a monthly allowance of 5,000 rupees (60 U.S. dollars) for six months. The federal government has released 7.6 billion rupees (90 million dollars) to the NWFP government, according to Brig. Khan.

Among the many lessons that were learnt from the earlier humanitarian assistance work, conceded Brig. Khan, was that providing food to IDPs created a huge “logistic footprint” for the SSG. So this time they have opted to provide “easy money” in the form of cash cards.

“The IDPs are covered for the next six months,” said Brig. Khan. In addition, the IDPs get non-food items.

“Through our local partners, we have provided 15,000 of these (items),” said Kilian Kleinschimdt, senior emergency coordinator of the UNHCR. These include kitchen sets, blankets, quilts, sleeping mats, jerry cans, among others.

The U.N. agency has also distributed tents to 35,000 families in case “they may need them later,” since the host families themselves are often living in difficult conditions, with five to six families living in one compound,” said Kleinschmidt.

But for war-displaced Mehsuds like Habib-ur-Rehman, fleeing one’s home was hard enough. It was even harder when he felt unwelcome in his host community, D.I. Khan, located some 1,000 kilometres from Karachi. He realised that ‘Meshud’ – which is appended to his name in keeping with the tradition of his tribe – drew negative reactions from the locals.

“Being a Mehsud is turning out to be a big problem,” said Habib-ur-Rehman in a phone interview with IPS. As a member of the tribe to which TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud and his late predecessor, Bailtullah Mehsud, belonged, he said he was viewed with suspicion by the town’s residents. “They think we, too, are involved in militancy.”

“The local people are not very supportive. They are neither very forthcoming in giving us refuge nor are they willing to rent out their homes,” he added. For now, he and his family, like most other displaced people, are living with either direct relatives or “friends of our relatives” at D.I. Khan, he said.

Thirty-five-year old Mariam Bibi, a resident of D.I. Khan, opened her home to her husband’s brothers and their families – all of whom are Mehsuds like him – for a full one month.

“It is not easy cooking every day for 30 people,” said the mother of five.

Notwithstanding their willingness to help, their altered situation has created tension at home. My wife is getting edgy,” said Saif-ur-Rehman Mehsud, Bibi’s husband. “I realise there is little privacy for us as a family.”

It does not help that there are no IDP camps at D. I. Khan, which was never an option in the first place for the war-fleeing Mehsuds.

“We knew the Mehsuds would not live in camps,” said Brig. Khan. Staying in such facilities makes them “feel very insecure.” The women observe very strict ‘purdah’ – or the practice of preventing men from seeing women – lest they expose themselves, he explained.

Those who can afford to rent a place find the rentals exorbitant. “Rents that used to be 1,000 rupees (11 dollars) per month have shot up to 5,000 rupees (60 dollars), said 38-year-old Zahid Khan Mehsud.” I am still willing to pay that much, but where do I get money to pay a three-month advance?

“If God forbid and luck were to reverse, I swear, we would’ve welcomed them in our homes with open arms and treated them as guests. That is the Pashtun tradition,” he exclaimed.

The Pashtuns, spread over southeastern Afghanistan to northeastern Pakistan (NWFP, FATA and Balochistan), comprise clans and tribes such as the Mehsud and Wazir.

Habib-ur-Rehman said there are many people still stranded in SWA. “They are the ones who are too poor to leave, because even fleeing comes at a cost!”

“The pick-up that usually costs 4,000 rupees (48 dollars) shot up to 13,000 rupees (155 dollars),” stressed Zahid Khan. He said many who remain trapped in SWA are suffering varying degrees of injury. Some have been maimed.

He and his family of 21, including the elderly and children, traveled on foot for a good three hours along the mountains before they were able to find transport. It took them an additional nine hours huddled in a pick-up before they reached their destination in Tank.

“It took them that long because the army had sealed many thoroughfares, and detours had to be made,” recounted Tariq Habib Khan, a journalist working for a private television channel, Khyber News.

Yet another ordeal faced Zahid Khan once he reached Tank. He recalled standing in long queues and being sent from one place to another for hours due to the arduous registration process before they could get their hands on relief goods.

Some of the people from SWA are moving to the adjoining North Waziristan (NW), where registration is not possible. “It is impossible to carry out any registration process due to the worsening law and order situation. Only the army can do it as no non-governmental organisation would dare venture there,” said Saif-ur-Rehman Mehsud.

“There are an estimated 1,500 families from SWA that have come to NW,” acknowledged Brig Khan, but so far they have not been registered.”