A post-operation strategy is needed for IDPs By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, June 4: The government was urged on Thursday to come out with a comprehensive post-conflict strategy for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) on emergent basis to avert possibility of mismanagement after the military operation in Swat and adjoining areas was over. Participants of a policy dialogue on ‘Responding to the situation of IDPs in Pakistan’ organised by Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI) observed that it should be decided well in time as to how the government, United Nations and other organisations would respond to the needs of the displaced persons after the completion of the operation.
They also expressed concern over the conditions in which most of the IDPs were forced to live in and pointed out that there were instances of displaced persons living in stables and other unhygienic places exposed to diseases. They were of the opinion that a strategy to accommodate the IDPs should have been designed before launching the offensive in Swat and other areas. Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Information Azim Daultana however defended the secrecy with which the matter was handled by saying that element of surprise for terrorists had been kept in view to achieve maximum success.
He also explained various policy and practical initiatives of the federal gov ernment in the relief phase and also the long-term commitments in the postwar period and return of the IDPs to their native areas. He said the government had not imposed any restriction on the movement of displaced persons. However, the government wants to set up camps in the nearest possible areas so that the displaced persons kept the hope of safely returning to their homes.
He said repatriation would purely be voluntary and no one would be forced to leave the IDP camps. He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had written off agricultural loans given in the areas where operation was going on. He surprised many by revealing that the government was planning a housing scheme for IDPs, but gave no details. One of the participants pointed out that housing was not merely a concern of IDPs rather was a general problem. It was pointed out that there was a shortfall of 300,000 houses.
Moderating the policy dialogue Tariq Bhatti of the RDPI presented a 10point agenda for all stakeholders involved in the operation. He emphasised that all government and non-government agencies must ensure human rights as enshrined in the Constitution and UN charter on IDPs. He stressed that the government should once and for all clear Swat and adjoining areas of militants and stop using the area as a buffer zone for expediency. He said the militants were called patriots in a recent security briefing. “What is the guarantee they will not be friends in future,” he remarked.
In his presentation, Khadim Hussain of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy discussed political, social, educational, health and demographic implications of the ongoing war in Swat valley and around. He pointed out that IDPs were experiencing a sense of loss to their dignity and sense of belonging. If government institutions and international aid agencies lack coordination, the social space, it is feared, may be occupied by the militant organisations to gain sympathies of the displaced youth.
Country Project Manager UN Habitat, Siamak Moghaddam, commenting on the presentation of Khadim Hussain, said one should be re alistic and must appreciate that displacement of two million people in itself was a huge and daunting task for any country in the world. “I do not agree that nobody is doing anything for the IDPs. Somebody is doing something for them,” he remarked. Shakoor Sindhu of RDPI said they must understand that natural disaster and military conflicts need different strategies and had different fall outs. He urged the government authorities to formulate well thought-out return and rehabilitation policies and make heavy investment to revive economy of the war zone.
Muktaar Qazi of Helping Hand said lessons of the earthquake had proved useful to face the challenge of the military operation more effectively.
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