KARACHI, 17 November 2009 (IRIN): As temperatures get closer to freezing in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal agency near the border with Afghanistan, some people affected by fighting between government troops and militants have begun to move further from the conflict zone.
Some 30-35 families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from South Waziristan had recently arrived in Majeed Colony in the port city of Karachi where many people originally from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) live, said local residents. Most had moved in with relatives or rented accommodation.
Most IDPs are staying with host families in NWFP’s adjacent Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts and, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 350.000 have now been registered in those areas. Anticipating that they will not be able to return until winter is over, some are heading to larger cities.
– There are people going to Bannu and Zhob [in the southwestern province of Balochistan], but as the UN is not on the ground – only our implementing partners – we don’t have any more info, Billi Bierling, a public information officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN from Islamabad.
The UN earlier this month requested safe access for IDPs from South Waziristan. The authorities have denied this to international humanitarian agencies citing security concerns in the area. However, through its implementing partners UNHCR started the distribution of some 35.000 tents to IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts last week.
Meanwhile, those in big cities are trying to fend for themselves. – We need to find work to support ourselves. Karachi is a large city and perhaps we can earn a livelihood here till it is safe to go back to our homes, Alam Khan Mehsud, 30, an IDP from South Waziristan, told IRIN. He is currently looking for work as a labourer, after which he hopes to enrol his two sons, aged nine and seven, at school.
