PESHAWAR: Deep inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on a barren patch of land in Nowshera district, 12-year-old Rab Nawaz roams a relatively deserted Jalozai camp. Originally from the Khyber Agency, Nawaz has been living here since 2009, when the law and order situation deteriorated in his hometown.

Out in front of his torn tent on a warm sunny day, a dishevelled Nawaz hangs around when he should be sitting in a classroom. He is not alone as hundreds of other children in this camp between the ages of five and 13 are being deprived of their basic right to education.

Nawaz was enrolled in the third grade in a primary school inside a tent three years ago. “In 2015 the schools were slowly and gradually closed down, depriving us of education,” laments Nawaz.

Some families still face lack of facilities in camps

“With no school in the camp anymore, we [the dislocated children] wander around all day,” he says, regretting what he has forgotten in the two years since he has been out of school.

Since the commencement of the process of resettling internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their native regions in March 2015, those left in the Jalozai camp have been facing numerous issues, apart from education.

Women and children, like Nawaz, from Khyber, Bajaur and Mohmand of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) live in torn tents with a reduced food allowance and a lack of health facilities.

Seventy-year-old Rehman Gul, who has been living in a tattered tent, without ration and health facility, explains: “The welfare organisations have closed down their schools, health centres and also stopped providing food items.”

Gul had been displaced from Bajaur in 2008. Since then he has seen supplies dwindle.

Woeful health facilities in the camp have compelled IDPs to take their ailing elderly, women and children to health centres elsewhere in Nowshera district. “Since I have no home in Bajaur Agency, how can I go back to my native village,” wonders Gul, unsure how long he has to sell corn to feed his children.

As the families await their fate, organisations such as the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) have been looking for solutions.

However, Abdul Basit, director of rehabilitation and operations at PDMA, claims it is difficult to provide for families who have stayed beyond the termination of their legal status as ‘internally displaced’.

“Provision of health, education, ration, tents and other facilities is impossible to maintain by non-government organisations for only 17 registered families in the camp,” asserts Basit, claiming there are many unregistered families who reside at Jalozai. “The Jalozai camp is set to be decommissioned after return of the remaining families,” claims Basit, adding “authorities in Nowshera have been directed to accommodate children in schools, in addition to being provided health facilities at health centres.”

“We were giving cash incentives of Rs25,000 per family in addition to Rs10,000 for transportation and a six-month ration upon their return,” claims Adil Zahoor, assistant director of operation and relief at FDMA, adding that they have also “carried out several reconstruction and rehabilitation projects in those areas”.

A total of 336,042 families had left their homes in tribal areas at the start of the operation. As many as 277,223 have been sent back while 58,819 remain in the camp.

According to Zahoor, due to a rise in militancy and the subsequent military operation, tribesmen had lost their homes and businesses. Through manual labour and setting up shops, like Gul’s corn cart, they were able to feed their families while females learned to stitch clothes.

In collaboration with political administrators, media and other welfare organisations, the FDMA conducted a survey of 3,782 homes.

They found that only 400 families had received cheques as compensation for their homes. Whether families are waiting for rehabilitation or looking for alternatives, there exists a failure to provide the basic needs for displaced women and children.

Dreaming of a better day

Owing to the threat posed by Lashkar-i-Islam (LI), Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant factions along the tribal belt of Fata, locals were made to vacate their homes and leave their livelihood to pave the way for military operations. Settling into camps such as Jalozai, they were initially provided all facilities, including education for their children.

Much like Rab Nawaz, 13-year-old Mustakeen Khan was studying in the fifth grade when the aid organisation that was sponsoring his school pulled out of the camp. “I wish I could be enrolled at a school like other children,” says Khan, but concedes that due to a lack of finances, “I cannot go to a private school.”

Having enrolled in a government primary school a year ago, Mustakeen had to drop out as “the school lacked basic facilities, even books”.

Lacking finances and being bed-ridden, Rehmanullah Afridi, the teenager’s father, is unable to provide for Khan and his four brothers and three sisters. Afridi, who was seriously injured in a mortar shell attack by unknown miscreants in his hometown, relies on his two oldest sons, who work as a waiter and daily wager, to feed their family.

The lack of provision and a dearth in activities leaves children like Rab Nawaz and Mustakeen Khan wandering aimlessly around the camp. They hope to one day avail their basic rights to health and education. They dream about sleeping in their own homes and playing with their friends at school.

Farid Shinwari is a freelance journalist with Centre for Research and Security Studies.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2017