PESHAWAR, July 4: Elders of Khyber Agency have expressed grave concern over the problems faced by the dislocated people of the region due to the military operation against miscreants and demanded of the government to declare the affected people as internally displaced persons and provide them with basic needs.

The tribesmen led by office-bearers of Khyber Welfare Committee, including Haji Daud Khan and Said Mohammad Saeed, while speaking at a press conference at Peshawar press club on Monday said the dislocated people at the Jalozai refugee camp were being faced with acute problems due to unavailability of basic facilities.

Mr Daud said the government was duty bound to declare the people as IDPs as they had not left their localities happily but had been forced to leave their homes, adding, those opted to stay back faced casualties and many of them were arrested.

“The children are deprived of their education because there is no arrangement for schooling,” he lamented and added the people wanted to return to homes but it was impossible in the prevailing circumstances.

The elder said despite repeated requests to the relevant officials no attention was paid so far, adding, it was duty of the government to ensure provision of food, tents, water and other basic facilities to the people as they were patriotic Pakistanis.

He appealed to President Asif Zardari and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar to take immediate steps for securing lives of the affected people.

Of the 14,200 people at Jalozai camp, he said, only 4,200 had been registered as IDPs and among them only 1,500 had got the Watan Cards while the rest of tribesmen were visiting offices of the relevant officials daily but to no avail. He alleged hundreds of Watan Cards had disappeared but the government was yet to probe into the matter.

Condemning the drone attacks in Fata, Mr Said Mohammad said only innocent people, particularly the women and children, were targeted.

He said the scorching weather had caused serious diseases to the children and women but there was no proper arrangement of medical facilities. He said government should at least provide electricity so that their children could sit under the fans.