March 11, 2006	Saturday	Safar 10, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 10: The United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) on Friday stressed the need of informed and voluntary return of the people displaced by the October 8 earthquake to places of their origin for ensuring sustainable return, as the authorities officially began closure of camps on Friday.

United Nations had earlier on completion of five months of the devastating earthquake declared that the winter race had been won without the much feared second wave of deaths.

The earthquake zone is now preparing itself for the launch of rehabilitation activities.

A spokesman for UNHCR said: “As lead agency for camp management in this operation, UNHCR recognises the need for people to rebuild their lives five months after the October 8, 2005 tragedy, but we’ve stressed to the authorities that returns must be informed and voluntary and that provisions should be made for vulnerable people who cannot return for the time being.”

Although March 10 had been declared by the government as the beginning of the closure of camps housing the quake survivors, but several of the camps inmates had started returning to their places of origin much earlier to rebuild their livelihoods.

Some families from Dharra, Kattai and New Bhogarmang camps have dismantled their tents and returned with the relief items they received back to the Siran Valley in NWFP. Similarly, some families have also returned home from Bella Noor Shah camp in Muzaffarabad.

But, the most commonly witnessed trend is that of male members of family going back to their villages to assess the situation and start rebuilding their lives before taking back the remaining members of the family.

The government has set March 31 as the deadline for completion of closure of camps, but this is being considered as impracticable by the humanitarian community, who believe that camps might be required for sometime especially to house the most vulnerable groups.

“Inevitably, there will be some vulnerable people who cannot go home immediately. They include those who are seriously disabled, widowed or have lost their land in landslides. Urban centres like Balakot and Muzaffarabad have been completely levelled and will take time to rebuild,” the UNHCR spokesman said.

The UN system is officially unveiling the return strategy on Monday at their meeting with ERRA.

To ensure that returns are informed and voluntary, UNHCR field teams are joining the Regional Relief Commission and Camp Management Organization in camps to discuss return issues with the affected population.

The main concerns of the people living in camps, concerning their return, are the availability of land, road rehabilitation, shelter, drinking water and food in their villages.

Over 260,000 quake victims are living in more than 150 camps both in NWFP and AJK.