PESHAWAR: The internally displaced persons from North Waziristan Agency on Monday protested slow repatriation and lack of facilities and urged the government to expedite their rehabilitation.

Holding banners and placards and shouting slogans during a demonstration on Sher Shah Suri Road, the IDPs, mostly youths, also demanded compensation for their damages and facilities.

Youth of Waziristan president Shah Zeb said the rehabilitation of IDPs was very slow and that those living in camps and various localities faced serious problems.

He said of the 129,000 registered IDPs from North Waziristan, only 15,000 had returned to their homes with the rest not knowing about their future.

Shah Zeb said the government had tasked a cellular company with distributing compensation to displaced person but the company had miserably to make them the payment on time to their misery.

Protesters Asadullah, Zahid, Feroz, Salman and Rahim expressed dissatisfaction with the rehabilitation process and said if things continued to happen at the snail’s pace, the problems would increase for IDPs.

They said at least 80,000 students both girls and boys were struggling to get education in their respective areas as the school buildings were damaged.

The protesters said many students had left home for other cities without securing school leaving certificates and therefore, they were denied admission in educational institutions.

They complained about a lack of educational facilities in their region and said if the government was sincere about eradicating terrorism, it should ensure the provision of education to the new generation in all tribal regions.

The protesters demanded removal of hurdles to movement of IDPs and provision of health facilities for them.

They also called for jobs for educated Fata youths saying this would help them earn livelihood with honour.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2016