Over 600,000 displaced Pakistanis return to their homes: UN
By Xinhua • Jul 30th, 2009 • Category: WorldIslamabad, July 30 , More than 600,000 Pakistanis, who have been displaced in the conflict between the security forces and the Taliban, returned to their homes in the country’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), a UN official said Thursday.
Of the 2.2 million displaced Pakistanis at the relief camps, 600,000 people have returned to their homes, Stephanie Bunker, a spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees, said.
“Some of the relief camps were closed as the displaced people have returned to their homes,” Bunker said at a press conference.
More than three million people have been displaced in the conflict in northwest Pakistan.
On Tuesday, a spokesman of the Special Support Group for displaced people, said over 150,000 displaced families have returned to their homes in the Malakand Division.
Bunker said: “A task force has been set up to look into the affairs of resettlement and provision of basic needs, as some other families (displaced families at the relief camps) are eager to go back (to their homes).”
She said agriculture has been badly hit in the conflict area and there is need for short, mid- and long-term assistance for sustainability of the people.
Bunker said people in Swat, Buner and other areas in northwest Pakistan still need assistance to establish their businesses and explore employment opportunities.
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