Pakistan faces biggest migration since 1947

[Naveed Yaseen]

LAHORE: Aid agencies have warned of up to 500,000 people from the country’s northwest fleeing their homes. The UN said an estimated 200,000 have fled the Swat valley this week alone. Another 300,000 are poised to flee if they get the chance. This would mean a total of one million people forced away from their homes by fighting in the past 12 months – the biggest internal displacement in Pakistan since independence.

“People are in shock. In some cases their homes have been destroyed. They are wondering when they’ll be able to go back. Others already say they will not be able to go back,” a UNICEF official interviewed in a Mardan refugee camp said.

The military launched the operation under mounting international pressure ending a controversial ceasefire with the Taliban three moths ago. An earlier military effort over a period of two years had failed to dislodge the Taliban.

The military’s operation involving more than 5,000 troops appears firm. Some observers had wondered earlier whether the army, trained and prepared to fight conventional wars, had the will or the capability to take on well-trained guerrillas.

There is also speculation there may have been a reluctance to fight what could have been seen as another battle in America’s war.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_8