By Delawar Jan
Official data said the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached 336,000 as 46,039 families shifted to the two districts. The IDPs are using different routes including a longer one that runs through Tiarza and Wana areas of South Waziristan and Zhob, Balochistan, to DI Khan.
A report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations said the influx of the IDPs from the restive tribal agency had witnessed an upsurge during the last one week. It said the largest displacement took place on November 1 when 5,000 families streamed into DI Khan and Tank.
According to the report, the people of the volatile agency continued migration from different areas of SWA. However, an official of the Provincial Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA) said the government had halted registration temporarily on November 5.
No camps have been established for the South Waziristan IDPs and they are living either with host families or in rented houses. Some tribal people have their own houses in the settled southern districts to spend winter season. Tank serves as the South Waziristan headquarters for winters. The authorities, it is learnt, have identified sites for camps and will set them up, if the needed.
The uprooted people are half of the total population of the agency. The population of the South Waziristan in 1998 was 429,841, which is estimated to be over 0.6 million now. Out of the total migrated population, 115,800 are living in Tank and 220,200 in D I Khan. Some were reported to be living in Zhob a couple of weeks ago but authorities believe they are in transit and heading to D I Khan.
The UNOCHA report said some 80,050 individuals of 11,080 families had left the area before August this year. The latest displacement started since October 13 as military was gearing up for an offensive to drive out militants headquartered in South Waziristan. The operation was launched on October 17. The authorities registered 255,200 individuals of 34,959 families since October 13.
It was learnt that the number of IDPs could go down as the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra) has been verifying the records of the IDPs to remove double or fake registration. The Nadra has verified around 22,600 families so far.
The government and humanitarian organisations have been providing food and non-food items (NFI) to the uprooted people. The food security cluster, from August to October, has distributed 4,600 MT of food to 24,089 families in DI Khan and Tank.
The UNOCHA report claimed that since September, the WASH Cluster has provided 69,000 IDPs with drinking water by rehabilitating and installing nine government water-supply systems and installing 35 hand-pumps and four pressure pumps in DI Khan and Tank. Also, 85,000 people have received WASH NFIs. Approximately 1,300 IDPs have benefited from the installation of 65 latrines in host communities and an additional 290 latrine kits have been distributed to the IDPs in two host districts.
Some 50,819 children have been given polio vaccination in DI Khan and Tank to protect them against the crippling disease. Identifying some hurdles, the report said only a few local NGOs have access to the hosting district as others stayed away due security concerns. This situation is making it difficult for the humanitarian bodies to assess the needs and implement and monitor the assistance programmes.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 7,922 cash cards of Rs5,000 have been distributed amongst the displaced families from Waziristan. It said army held free medical camp at Wana and Shakai from November 2 to 6 and treated a number of patients, besides providing free medicines.