Number of IDPs in Pakistan has increased, says Norwegian report

A report prepared by the Norwegian Refugee Council has claimed that the number of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan has increased from 746,000 to 1.9 million after violence intensified in the region.

According to the report, around 907,000 people were forced to flee their homes in 2014 compared to 140,000 in 2013.

The surge in the number of IDPs is a result of the massive counter terrorism offensive Operation Zarb-e-Azb that was launched by Pakistan government in June last year.

According to the report released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Pakistan accounted for 46 percent of over four million people displaced by conflict and violence in South Asia in 2014.

The majority of the displaced are reported to be from the mountainous tribal belt along the Afghan border mainly regions of Khyber Agency, North Waziristan and South Waziristan, where Pakistani military is battling the Taliban.

The Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N Government, however, began sending back the IDPs in February this year after it claimed of clearing the areas of militants.

While repatriation in South Waziristan is said to be completed, the IDPs are still continuing to return in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency.

The Fata Disaster Management Authority claimed that around 20,000 displaced families had been sent back to their homes so far in Khyber Agency and 230 families have returned to North Waziristan after repatriation to these two places began in March.