What’s next for the displaced children?

[Pakistan Insider]

The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from North Waziristan will soon be returning home. But the word ‘home’ just means a piece of land now. For them, the place they left may not even look like it was before operation Zarb-e-Azb started. Nothing will be the way they left it; nothing will be new. Indeed, the government and military will be supporting IDPs to settle down, but nothing will be like it used to be. It may even turn out to be starting all over again; a new life.

Last month, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Asim Saleem Bajwa announced that the returning of IDPs will begin from February. This is an indication that the operation is about to end.

Homes, schools, hospitals, shops, markets, playgrounds, restaurants, offices etc—all gone. So, what happens next? IDPs are about to go back to a place where terrorists are being killed, hideouts being destroyed, bombs and all sorts of high-tech weapons being used. Even the thought of it brings goose bumps.

Who will be returning? Individuals and families. But the word ‘family’ includes men, women, old-aged people and children.

Without doubts, armed conflict does lead to population movements, especially when there is a risk of civilians getting harmed. In the case of Zarb-e-Azb, over 800,000 IDPs were recorded by FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA). It has registered 430,475 children, who escaped the on-going conflict along with parents.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that mothers and children are entitled to special care and assistance, and that all children have the right to social protection.

Read more here What’s next for the displaced children? | Pakistan Insider