A large number of people displaced by the conflict between militants and security forces in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province and tribal areas are staying outside the camps set up to house them, but many require urgent shelter, and health and education assistance, according to aid workers.
Over 208,000 individuals have registered at the Jalozai Camp, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), most of whom have moved out of Khyber Agency area since January 2012. But that number is only a portion of the total population estimated to be displaced.
“Only 15 percent of the IDPs [internally displaced persons] actually live at the camp,” Duniya Aslam Khan, Public Relations officer for UNHCR, told IRIN. “Most opt to move in with relatives or friends.”
According to an inter-agency assessment report, the IDPs living outside the camp are experiencing serious food shortages - the study of 2,157 families in 45 communities displaced from KP since January found that 7.3 percent of IDP communities did not have any food stocks. “Where food is available, 56 percent of communities stated that they possess food stocks for only 1 - 3 days,” it noted.
The report also states that 40 percent of assessed IDPs had received no food assistance, while a significant number were not collecting food rations they were entitled to from Jalozai. A lack of clarity over distribution times, and the cost of transportation to the camp were contributory factors.
Health, sanitation and child welfare issues for IDPs outside the camp were also a problem. “Alarmingly, 82.2 percent women respondents reported a decrease in frequency of breastfeeding after displacement,” the report said.
Culture
Humanitarian workers said some families preferred to stay outside camps for cultural reasons, associated mainly with privacy and security for women, but they faced problems and struggled to gain the support they need.
“We are running short of food for ourselves and my three children. My husband has gone back to our village to check on our house and lands, and my elderly mother-in-law and myself cannot make it to the Jalozai Camp on our own to collect rations,” Azra Bibi, who is living in rented accommodation on the outskirts of Peshawar, told IRIN.
Azra rarely goes out of her house on her own, has never used public transport, cannot read or write, and says, “Getting to Jalozai would cost money. We are already spending a lot on rent.”
Displacement in KP reached a peak in 2009 after increased fighting in the area and has continued since then, with most of the most recent occurring in Bara tehsil [ administrative unit ], Khyber Agency on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
“We were somewhat unaware that so many people would not want to move into camps, but today we understand this is the pattern,” Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority told IRIN.
The IDPs who moved in with relatives have not been registered. “We are understaffed, some IDPs do not wish to reveal their identity - especially where enmity exists with other groups from the same area - and some families move back and forth between Khyber and Peshawar. This makes registration harder to organize,” said an official who asked not to be named.
“It is hard to suckle my four-month-old son, when you are living in a house with some twelve other people. Our host is a distant cousin, and I find it hard to find the privacy to feed, since there are so many people always coming in and out of the room we use,” Hameeda Bibi, 25, told IRIN.
Salim Jan, 50, who reached Peshawar a week ago from the town of Bara, said: “I know we may receive more help if we lived at Jalozai, but I have teenage daughters, and cannot expose them to a situation where they must live with strangers next door.”
kh/eo/he
Over 208,000 individuals have registered at the Jalozai Camp, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), most of whom have moved out of Khyber Agency area since January 2012. But that number is only a portion of the total population estimated to be displaced.
“Only 15 percent of the IDPs [internally displaced persons] actually live at the camp,” Duniya Aslam Khan, Public Relations officer for UNHCR, told IRIN. “Most opt to move in with relatives or friends.”
According to an inter-agency assessment report, the IDPs living outside the camp are experiencing serious food shortages - the study of 2,157 families in 45 communities displaced from KP since January found that 7.3 percent of IDP communities did not have any food stocks. “Where food is available, 56 percent of communities stated that they possess food stocks for only 1 - 3 days,” it noted.
The report also states that 40 percent of assessed IDPs had received no food assistance, while a significant number were not collecting food rations they were entitled to from Jalozai. A lack of clarity over distribution times, and the cost of transportation to the camp were contributory factors.
Health, sanitation and child welfare issues for IDPs outside the camp were also a problem. “Alarmingly, 82.2 percent women respondents reported a decrease in frequency of breastfeeding after displacement,” the report said.
Culture
Humanitarian workers said some families preferred to stay outside camps for cultural reasons, associated mainly with privacy and security for women, but they faced problems and struggled to gain the support they need.
“We are running short of food for ourselves and my three children. My husband has gone back to our village to check on our house and lands, and my elderly mother-in-law and myself cannot make it to the Jalozai Camp on our own to collect rations,” Azra Bibi, who is living in rented accommodation on the outskirts of Peshawar, told IRIN.
Azra rarely goes out of her house on her own, has never used public transport, cannot read or write, and says, “Getting to Jalozai would cost money. We are already spending a lot on rent.”
Displacement in KP reached a peak in 2009 after increased fighting in the area and has continued since then, with most of the most recent occurring in Bara tehsil [ administrative unit ], Khyber Agency on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
“We were somewhat unaware that so many people would not want to move into camps, but today we understand this is the pattern,” Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority told IRIN.
The IDPs who moved in with relatives have not been registered. “We are understaffed, some IDPs do not wish to reveal their identity - especially where enmity exists with other groups from the same area - and some families move back and forth between Khyber and Peshawar. This makes registration harder to organize,” said an official who asked not to be named.
“It is hard to suckle my four-month-old son, when you are living in a house with some twelve other people. Our host is a distant cousin, and I find it hard to find the privacy to feed, since there are so many people always coming in and out of the room we use,” Hameeda Bibi, 25, told IRIN.
Salim Jan, 50, who reached Peshawar a week ago from the town of Bara, said: “I know we may receive more help if we lived at Jalozai, but I have teenage daughters, and cannot expose them to a situation where they must live with strangers next door.”
kh/eo/he
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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