FATA TDPs Continue to Return Back to their Areas Amid Various Difficulties

The fallout of operation Zarb-e-Azb saw a large number of people being displaced from various agencies of FATA taking refuge in camps and other areas of the country. Over 300,000 families were displaced from their areas as a result of the operation. 190,000 families have returned to their areas so far. Those still languishing in camps and other places face enormous difficulties.

A sizable number of families however went to Afghanistan. Government of Pakistan launched a registration drive to repatriate such families in a dignified way. Around 24,000 NADRA verified families were repatriated as a result.

However, there are still many left in the neighboring country who couldn’t register themselves for one reason or the other even though the registration process was open for around 8 months .

According to government policy such unregistered TDPs (temporary displaced persons) are not entitled to receive the transport and return cash grants which are 10,000 and 25,000 PKR respectively.

The transport and return cash grants are only given to registered and NADRA verified TDP families upon voluntary return after their particular area is cleared for return by Pakistan Army. Additionally, each family gets food ration for six months after return.

However, not every family gets registered in time. There are various reasons for it but the major one is lack of information and guidance to know their rights.

The total number of displaced families registered from North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Kurram and Orakzai were around 324,965, however, only 244,353 families could be verified through NADRA.

While many of those not verified by NADRA were duplicate registrations, or one or more of their family members had already been registered, a sizable number of people couldn’t be verified because they were simply not registered with NADRA database.

Despite going through all the hardships, such non-verified TDPs neither get monthly stipend during their time of displacement nor do they get the return and transport cash grants.