HYDERABAD Sartaj Abbasi of the Roots Foundation told a meeting here on Wednesday that that according to a survey carried out by his organisation in Hyderabad, Jamshoro and Kotri, around 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were currently residing in the areas.

He was speaking at a consultative meeting of civil society organisations held here on Wednesday to discuss the influx of IDPs into Sindh and its possible impact on the province.

The meeting was held in the office of the Strengthening Participatory Organisation under the auspices of the Sindh Democratic Forum.

Those who attended the meeting were of the opinion that the Sindh government did not have the capacity to monitor the movement of the IDPs.

They said that the IDPs should be confined to camps. They called upon the Awami National Party to take a clear stand on the issue and urged the Sindh government to clarify its position.

Prof Mushtaq Mirani said that migration was an irreversible process because once poor people found a source of livelihood they would not like to return to their native areas.

Punhal Sario of the Sindhi Hari Porhiyat Council said that according to the 1998 census, the number of Pakhtoons in Sindh had increased from 2.2 million to 5.2 million.

Mustafa Baloch said that reports about Taliban leaving Swat suggested that they could mingle with the IDPs and come to Sindh.

If that happened, he said, one should be prepared to see destruction of the shrines of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.

Nazeer Memon said the influx could lead to an ethnic strife in Sindh.

However, Abrar Kazi had a different point of view. He said that the IDPs posed no threat to Sindh because the province offered only limited means of livelihood and that would compel them to return to their native areas once the situation improved there. Therefore, he said, there was no cause for alarm.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party organised demonstrations across Sindh on Wednesday in protest against the influx.