No Way Back to Bajaur, IRIN News, 8 February 2010
EXCERPT: "Some media reports said a fresh wave of displacements took place over the last few days, after 'about 4,000' people reportedly fled villages in the Mamond and Banda areas of Bajaur following renewed fighting, but Babar Baloch, public information officer with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said there were no confirmed reports or figures 'so far'. Around 250,000 people were still displaced from Bajaur at the end of 2009, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The new wave of unrest has convinced those who had moved away earlier that there is little hope of an early return. Faizan said he had to enrol his children in school, and hoped his daughter, Rida Meena, would also be able to resume learning after a break of two years. Schools in Bajaur have opened only sporadically since 2008. Seventy-four institutions are reported to have been destroyed by militants, affecting the education of some 50,000 children, according to some media reports, and schools that had opened briefly have now shut again because of the latest hostilities... Military operations continue in northern areas, and military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas has said they will go on till 'the Taliban are defeated'. There are other problems as well. 'Due to the security situation many professionals have fled. They include teachers. Female teachers have in some cases given up working because of the militant threat... Faizan said.'"
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Thousands flee as 22 killed in Bajaur, DAWN, 2 February 2010
74 schools, colleges destroyed in Bajaur, The News International, 23 January 2010
Displaced Bajaur people refuse to return, DAWN, 1 September 2008
Related reports:
Pakistan: Humanitarian update no. 7, United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) via ReliefWeb, 5 February 2010
Pakistan: Humanitarian end of year review, UN OCHA via ReliefWeb, 13 January 2010
Related posts:
Aid workers bracing for possible new IDP influx, 26 January 2010
Thousands trapped as army hunts Taliban, 13 January 2010
Displacement crisis far from over: UN, 7 January 2010
Returning IDPs face challenges despite aid, 9 December 2009
Ongoing displacement the single largest recorded in Pakistan: Report, 2 December 2009
