FACTBOX-The crisis over Pakistanis displaced by fighting
(For main story, click on [ID:nSP488189]
July 13 (Reuters) - The Pakistani government began on Monday sending home about 2 million people who fled from fighting that broke out between the army and Taliban militants more than two months ago.
Following are some facts about the displaced.
- About 2 million people have fled from their homes because of the fighting, most since late April from the Swat valley and neighbouring districts.
- The U.N. refugee agency says it is grappling with one of the largest, most sudden and most complex operations it has faced in years.
- Most of the displaced are living with family or friends in "host communities", but about 280,000 are in more than 20 tented camps on the lowland below Swat.
- The government, the army, the United Nations and other aid agencies are helping people in the camps, those staying with host communities, and the hosts, most of whom are also poor.
- The United Nations has received close to $230 million in response to a $543 million aid appeal it launched in May in a bid to avert a long-term humanitarian crisis.
- About, 55,000 families, or about 380,000 people, have gone back, most to Buner district, just to the south of Swat. Some have already returned to Swat on their own.
- Authorities will take people home in stages, starting with those living in tent camps.
- Aid workers say many of the displaced are afraid to go home, but also that the strain on host communities is growing as time passes.
- U.N. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes has emphasised that the government must ensure appropriate conditions, especially security, are in place before encouraging people to go home, and that returns must be voluntary.
- Public support for the offensive against the Taliban is strong, but the government risks losing it if the displaced are seen to suffer.
- Worry is also growing about Taliban supporters creating dissent in the camps. (For more on Pakistan and Afghanistan, click on [ID:nAFPAK]) (Compiled by Islamabad newsroom)
