By Nadeem Sarwar, DPA,
Jalozai Camp (Pakistan) : Hundreds of refugees have started returning to their homes in Pakistan’s scenic valley of Swat with deeply ambivalent emotions – following a two month-long army offensive against the Taliban which displaced millions.
The men, women and children were happy to leave behind the sufferings they faced at the temporary refugee camps for weeks, but they were not sure whether the situation at home has really improved and whether they could rebuild their shattered lives again.
“I am going back to my home – but I don’t know what I will do there,” said Ghaniur Rehman, 72, as he sat in a government-provided bus to transport the displaced from Jalozai Camp, a small city of thousands of tents which has provided a temporary home for around 150,000 people.
“My only son is dead, my house has been flattened and all my belongings destroyed,” he said Monday as he wiped his tears with the sleeves of his long white shirt.
“I don’t know where I will live and where I will eat from. The government has given me 25,000 rupees (around $306), how long will my family and me eat with this money?” he added. “But home is home. I am going there and will stay there till my death.”
The decisive assault by thousands of troops forced the Taliban to lose control over much of the district and retreat to their dens in pine-clad mountains in the scenic valley, but the cost has been quite heavy.
Hundreds of houses, government buildings and bridges are destroyed. The government is still struggling to restore water, electricity and gas supply in many areas. Health services are almost collapsed.
The blossoming tourism industry, which was a major source of income for many in Swat, a land of gushing rivers and picturesque valleys, at least until 2007 when the conflict began, is now completely ruined.
In coming months or perhaps years, few local or foreign tourists would dare to travel to Swat, commonly now dubbed the “valley of death”.
The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said last week billions of dollars would be needed for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the first year alone.
But the world has not been so generous to the 2.1 million people displaced by the conflict in Swat and its three neighbouring districts, though the western countries hailed the offensive as a major step in the fight against terrorism.
In response to the UN flash appeal for $452 million, the international community provided merely 42 percent of it.
The refugee crisis could turn into a major humanitarian crisis if some 85 percent of the uprooted were not hosted by the relatives and locals.
Rehabilitation and reconstruction would take years, but the first major concern for the people in Swat and nearby areas is security.
With main Taliban leaders, including Maulana Fazlullah, alive and regular guerrilla attacks on security forces, many fear that Taliban might reorganize and return forcefully.
This caused many families to hesitate and stay back at Jalozai Camp, where a total 14,000 families from Swat and adjoining areas are staying. Over 7,500 more families are from the tribal region along Afghan border which is also seeing fighting between Taliban and security forces.
The authorities had planned for the return of more than 2,000 families, but only 150 opted for going back from the Jalazaoi Camp. A few dozens more returned from other refugee camps.
“People are afraid. But we hope as soon as the first convoy safely reaches Swat, the other people in the (Jalozai) camp will be encouraged,” said Tahir Orakzai, a government official looking after the operations at the Jalozai Camp, which is in Nowshera district of North Western Frontier Province.
But army Colonel Nadeem Ahmed, who leads the troops guarding the camp, said that Taliban could even target the motor caravans of refugees as they move into Swat region, signalling that the fighting in the former popular tourist destination is far from over.
“I do not want to go home. There are Taliban. They first behead people and then, because of them, the military carries out bombardment at our homes,” Asia Yousafzai, 9, said as she looked up at a helicopter gunship flying over the camp.
“I studied in class three but Taliban blew up our school. I will go back when all Taliban are dead,” added Asia.