Dozens of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Monday launched a three-day protest camp against problems being faced by the refugees in Jalozia camp. They demanded basic living facilities in the camp and the registration of all IDPs of the Bara military operation against militants. Holding banners and placards, the protesters voiced their demands at Sher Shah Suri Road outside Peshawar Press Club. Talking to journalists, Shah Faisal Afridi, chairman of the Tehrik-e-Mutasireen-e-Khyber Agency (TMKA), said that thousands of families had been displaced after the military offensive. He said over 7,000 families were sheltering in the Jalozai camp without any basic living facilities such as water, food, healthcare and electricity. He said only 950 families had been registered, while the remaining were still awaiting registration and government’s assistance.
The protest leaders said the ongoing military operation had made the life of tribesmen miserable. They said a curfew was in place for 27 months while educational institutions, health centres, government and semi-government institutions and markets were destroyed. The movement leaders asked the government to start the registration of the IDPs and facilitate their honourable return to their houses. They demanded that the government should announce a special package for the families of the military operation’s victims and rebuild their property damaged in the offensive. They asked for similar benefits provided to the IDPs of Malakand Division, Bajour and Mohmand agencies.
