A return without a home

When Operation Rah-e-Nijat was started in South Waziristan in October 2009, an estimated 364,000 people – or 79,000 families – left the five tehsils of the region in order to escape being caught in the cross fire between the army and the militants. Those leaving their homes and stable local jobs were promised that the situation would clear out in the next few months. Six years have passed since the promise of peace was made, but the situation on the ground has barely improved. The government and the army have set up voluntary repatriation camps. In the meanwhile the Federal Disaster Management Authority announced plans to repatriate all South Waziristan refugees from March 16. The IDPs have been promised a meagre Rs35,000 for expenditure and food rations for six months. The FDMA also claims that over 100,000 of the displaced have returned over the two weeks.
Perhaps these small incentives are contributing to the reasons pushing South Waziristan families who made their way to Karachi – and integrated themselves in the city’s economy by doing odd-jobs and operating rickshaws – to consider the possibility of return seriously. But the reality in their region is that the bulk of the Mehsud areas are yet to be declared conflict-free zones. While the government has announced plans to repatriate all Mehsud tribesmen, it is more their harassment at the hands of the local police in Karachi that is pushing them to return. What guarantee do these families have that the Taliban will not return? What guarantee is there that their men will not be mistaken for militants by the armed forces? Integrating back into their home towns, rebuilding their houses, rebuilding their economy, rebuilding their lives from scratch is a Herculean task in itself, made more complicated by the ongoing military operations. Before the repatriation began, TTP South Waziristan issued a stark warning to the IDPs to not return home. An IED explosion in the region and 13 bullet ridden bodies found in the region add to their fears. If the total figures are to be compiled, only 2.2 million out of over 4.3 million people displaced in the tribal areas due to the ongoing war in the last few years have returned. This is a human tragedy of astronomical proportions. Returning to their lives in South Waziristan is going to be a difficult task. Without a home in either their region of origin or their place of refuge, the government will need to be far more attentive to their needs if it is serious about restoring life in South Waziristan.