DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) began on Sunday registering about 3,000 displaced families to be sent back to parts of South Waziristan Agency.

The authority’s coordinator, Omar Mehsud, said the return journeys of the families would begin on March 16 after completion of the registration process. A facilitation desk has been set up in the office of the political agent in Tank where those wishing to return are being registered.

He said the registration process would continue for three days and families hailing from Serwekai and Sararogha tehsils, adjacent to Frontier Region Tank, would be sent back to their homes.

Also read: Return of IDPs

The authority in collaboration with political administration has identified six villages in Serwekai and 10 villages in Sararogha where these 3,000 families of Mehsud tribe would be rehabilitated.

Around 70,000 families of Mehsud tribe were forced to leave their homes when security forces launched Rah-i-Nijat operation against the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in June, 2009. However, a large part of the region dominated by the Mehsud tribe is still considered as a conflict zone, which is delaying the return of IDPs to those areas.

70,000 families of Mehsud tribe left their homes when security forces launched Rah-i-Nijat operation against the Taliban in 2009

Displaced families have been residing in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but a large number of them have also moved to Karachi and Hyderabad.

Officials said that at least 20,000 displaced families had been sent back to their homes in Sararogha. However, a large number of families had left their ancestral areas due to lack of shelter, health, education and other facilities.

Mr Mehsud said that each family would get Rs25,000 in cash and Rs10,000 for transportation upon returning to their homes.

He said food rations for six months would be given to every household apart from a kit containing non-food items.

Published in Dawn March 9th , 2015

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