0.2m IDPs need urgent relief in Dera Bugti, Kohlu

KARACHI At least 0.2 million people of Dera Bugti and Kohlu, displaced after army operation couple of years back and got shelter in the bordering areas of Sindh and Punjab, are remain homeless as their makeshifts have been inundated due to devastating floods. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Balochistan have left their homeland after military action in Musharraf era. They were given assurances by the President and Prime Minister for their resettlement but initiatives have yet to be taken in this regard. According to the report of Baloch Unity Conference (BUC), despite the assurance of authorities the issue of IDPs settlement is yet to be resolved and the affected people of these boarding areas are not being treated as other victims of the flood. The BUC report disclosed that around 185,000 people migrated from Dera Bugti in March 2005 following the military action. Similarly, such a big number of people from district Kohlu had left their homes and still homeless. The IDPs took shelters in the border areas of Sindh and Punjab and still deprived of the basic needs of life. Quoting the statements of IDPs, the BUC pointed out that the displaced people of Dera Bugti, Sui, Kohlu, Kahn districts and other areas were shifted to deserted area of different parts of Sindh and Punjab including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Khairpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kacha, Rohri, Dera Murad, Jaffarabad, Kohriji, Darki, Ubaru, Dera Ghanzi Khan, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad and other parts. There are 25,000 people who were shifted to Tesil Debiji, Punjab alone. It is pertinent to mention here that despite of tall claims of the authorities, Balochistan government could not even gather the data of their own displaced people those remain suffer without food and other basic facilities. Thousands of IDPs particularly children have suffered with various diseases including hepatitis B, C, malaria, pneumonia and others. Several newborn babies died due to lack of food and improper medical facilities. The BUC strongly criticised the federal and provincial governments. It said that authorities did nothing to resettle the displaced people and for their rehabilitation. It claimed that despite disaster in Bugti and Marri dominated areas, media and NGOs were not allowed by the government to visit the affected areas for fact-finding while the government did not allow them to disclose the critical situation of the peoples sufferings and effected areas of the province. On the other side, according to the report issued by United Nations offices in Islamabad, around 84,000 people have been displaced from Dera Bugti alone, the hometown of the slain Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti who was killed by the army in August 2006. The report also mentioned that around 26,000 women and 33,000 children were in very bad nutrition status. The UN report says the mass exodus had already made the situation critical with the onset of winter, forcing the Pakistani authorities to seek help of the UN to avert the malnutrition crisis among the displaced. Majority of them are now residing in Quetta, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts of Balochistan. The UN had subsequently approved a six months humanitarian relief package worth one million dollars to address the humanitarian crisis.