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31 December 2010
Human rights abuses by Taliban insurgents, counter-insurgency operations and local sectarian and tribal conflicts have displaced a total of four million people in Pashtu-dominated Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) since 2008. By December 2010, according to international agencies, the number of IDPs in KPK had fallen to between 840,000 and 980,000 IDPs. Roughly half of them had been displaced during the year. The number of people internally displaced in FATA and other provinces was unknown. In August, massive floods affected up to 18 million people living near the Indus and its tributaries. In KPK, the flooding destroyed areas where conflictaffected IDPs had sought refuge, heightening their vulnerability and forcing many to flee once more.
The 2010 estimate of numbers was based on an effort to profile the age, sex and location of the conflict-displaced population of KPK. The mapping found that men and women were equally represented among IDPs, and 60 per cent were children. Some groups were disproportionately represented, including tribal communities who had formed militias to fight the Taliban, communities affected by government bombing of Taliban-controlled areas, and Shia and Sikh minorities. 96 per cent of internally displaced households were headed by men, suggesting that most families had managed to stay together. The profiling exercise also sought to assess IDPs’ humanitarian needs and longer-term intentions. As of the end of 2010, between 80 and 90 per cent of IDPs were living in rented accommodation or with families, but the rest remained in camps, many of them among the most vulnerable IDPs. Most heads of displaced households had found temporary employment in their area of refuge, but struggled to pay for basic housing and services such as health care. Their monthly income had fallen as a result of their displacement, leading many to spend their savings and take on debt.
The flooding of farm land, compounded by the insecurity and curfews, had led food prices to double and food insecurity to become more widespread, though the distribution of rations had contained levels of malnutrition.
Internally displaced children faced threats including forced marriage, forced labour and sexual exploitation. Internally displaced women bound by purdah (honour) faced severe mobility restrictions which impeded their access to even life-saving health care and other services, while their male counterparts were the targets of killings, forced recruitment and arrests. IDPs were most unsafe during their flight from conflict, when many were killed by army shelling, summary Taliban executions and anti-personnel mines laid by insurgents, and also during their return journey: a Taliban suicide attack on a food distribution point in December 2010 killed more than 40 returning IDPs. Almost two million people returned to KPK between mid- 2009 and mid-2010. The rate then fell as local insecurity, the destruction of infrastructure and land disputes impeded further returns. In 2010, despite insecurity in FATA, the government persuaded IDPs to go back to their homes and assert law and order there, if necessary by forming anti-Taliban militias. Poorer IDPs could not afford to remain in displacement and thus returned in 2010, while better-off IDPs from FATA bought land in KPK and sought to integrate there. Tensions grew in some areas as members of host communities blamed the IDPs for increasing insecurity and overstretching shared resources. However, these tensions were largely managed by local leaders.
The government continued to lead the response to conflictinduced internal displacement in 2010, with support from international donors and agencies. Around half of the people internally displaced in the first half of the year were registered and received food rations, non-food items and government cash grants. However, despite some important achievements, the government lacked a rights-based policy to guide its response, and the alignment of relief activities with counter-insurgency objectives made IDPs and returnees more vulnerable.
In Balochistan, armed conflict between the army and Baloch tribal militants over control of land and natural resources continued to cause large-scale displacement in 2010. The army fought against separatist militant groups, Sunni and Shia groups fought each other, and the Taliban attacked NATO supply lines to Afghanistan. Many of the people internally displaced, more than 100,000 between January and July 2010 according to the government, were settlers who it had encouraged to move to the province. Some 40,000 members of the Baloch Bugti tribe remained displaced, but little is known about the displacement of Baloch groups as the government denied reporters and humanitarian workers access to large parts of the province.
Pakistan: Suicide attack against IDPs kills 43 in tribal areas (13 January 2011)
IDPs have continued to face threats related to the establishment of
lashkar (tribal militias) to fight insurgent groups. On 25 December, a female suicide bomber
killed over 40 people and injured 100 near a World Food Programme (WFP)
distribution point for IDPs in Bajaur Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said
targeted Salarzai tribes who have formed a
lashkar to fight against the TTP. International leaders
condemned the attack, which could prompt the government to put IDP returns on hold until the security situation
improves in return areas.
This was the second such suicide attack against internally displaced tribespeople in 2010. On 17 April, two male suicide bombers
killed at least 42 IDPs who were queuing to collect food rations at the Kacha Pukha camp. Some media
reported that the attack was motivated by sectarian hatred, but a local police commander confirmed that the suicide bombers
targeted members of the Mani Khel and Baramad Khel tribes, whose leaders had agreed to form
lashkars against the Taliban.
Pakistan: IDPs returning to South Waziristan; displacements in Kurram as tribes fight Haqqani network (26 November 2010)
After months of negotiation between the Pakistani security forces and displaced tribal elders from South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA), the process of
returning is commencing this week. Between 60,000 and 80,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) will voluntarily go back to Serwakai and Sararogha, areas under the control of government forces. Humanitarian agencies including UNHCR have drawn up plans to
assist the returnees with transport, tents, shelter and household items
Meanwhile, violent clashes that erupted in Kurram Agency in September have since killed more than 100 people and
displaced thousands. Pakistani newspapers reported that Sunni Mangal and Shi’a Turi Bangash tribes were fighting over the control of
water resources but, according to the Irani Ahlul Bayt News Agency, the Shi’a tribe was
attacked by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Armed conflict displaces thousands in FATA; discrimination and violence against displaced minorities endanger Karachi peace (7 October 2010)
During September, civilians fled
bombing in Bajaur agency and several villages were emptied in Orakzai agency as the army planned for new military operations. None of the IDPs were registered or received assistance. The security forces tried to persuade other Orakzai IDPs to return, despite
insecurity in the area. Dozens of people, moreover, fled their village in North Waziristan near the Afghan border after unidentified
explosions destroyed several houses. Meanwhile, tribal violence over access to
water resources in Kurram agency killed 150 tribesmen and displaced hundreds more after several villages were
set on fire. The fighting finally came to a
halt after mediation by local authorities.
With Pakistan struggling to respond to the impact of
natural disaster, the International Crisis Group and the International Committee of the Red Cross have also
expressed concerns over the plight of flood-affected people who had previously been displaced by armed conflict in north-west Pakistan and
Baluchistan. While humanitarian agencies have sought to
prioritise assistance according to needs, national news sources have reported that the government have
diverted aid from conflict-induced IDPs to those affected by the flooding, putting the
returns of the former at
risk.
Displacement, either due to war, human rights abuses or flooding is having serious political consequences in the form of ethnic and sectarian conflict. Competition over access to assistance has pitted ethnic and religious groups against each other, with members of the Ahmadiya community reportedly
excluded from assistance in Punjab province and
religious minorities were widely reported to face
discrimination during
relief operations. Karachi, already affected by
ethnic violence between members of the Muhajir and Pashtun communities who fled the armed conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as
sectarian clashes, experienced an
influx of hundreds of thousands of flood-displaced Sindhi from the surrounding areas. Killings and suicide
bombings also created widespread fear that the violence would
spread to other areas.
Pakistan has faced a series of displacement crises due to natural disasters and armed conflict in recent years. 19 million people have been displaced by earthquakes and flooding and over five million by armed conflict over the past seven years. In December 2011, more than half a million people were still displaced following the flooding of the Indus in September, and almost one million remained internally displaced by armed conflict in the north-west.
Conflict continued to cause displacement in 2011. Since April, major displacements have taken place in Kurram and Khyber agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA), and in a number of other locations. (...)
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10 January 2012