UN: 38,000 people displaced by fighting in Pakistan return home

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UN: 38,000 people displaced by fighting in Pakistan return home

2011-06-07 23:35:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday said that 38,000 people displaced by fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas have returned to their homes over the past two months.

Most of them went back to homes in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies, both of which are in the northern part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, bordering Afghanistan. The operation was organized by the Pakistani Government and monitored by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure that returns were voluntary.

An estimated 5,000 families – or about 26,000 individuals – remain in Jalozai, the largest of the four camps in the tribal areas for internally displaced persons. However, around 90 per cent of the displaced lived outside camps, with friends, relatives or in rented accommodation. Most of them are residents of areas still considered unsafe for returns.

In addition to monitoring the process and funding the transport of returnees, UNHCR also set up warehouses in both areas that provided returning families with basic household supplies. Other UN agencies are also providing help, including the World Food Programme and the UN Children's Fund.

Displacement from Pakistans tribal areas began in 2008 in the wake of a government crackdown on insurgents.  At the height of the displacement crisis in 2009, more than 21,000 families, or around 147,000 people, were registered in the Jalozai camp.

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