IRIN
PAKISTAN: Displaced from Allai return from quake camps
13 March 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

BATTAGRAM, 13 March (IRIN) - With winter almost over and temperatures 
rising, the return process from the largest camp in northern Pakistan - 
home to tens of thousands of people displaced by October's earthquake - 
is gaining pace.

"It is getting very hot here and we are not used to such weather," Abdul 
Lajan, 40, from the mountain village of Ghudlai in the Allai area of 
Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said on Saturday.

"I want to go back home," the father of seven added, before leaving the 
Meira camp in NWFP's Battagram district.

The Meira camp is strung out along the banks of the Indus River, hosting 
quake survivors primarily from the Allai Valley in NWFP, one of the 
areas worst-hit by the 8 October earthquake that claimed the lives of 
more than 80,000 and left over 3 million homeless in parts of NWFP and 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

"We started this process on 10 March. There are around 21,000 residents 
within the camp, which makes it the biggest camp [for the displaced] in 
Pakistan," said Ged Healy, operations coordinator with the UN Office for 
Project Services (UNOPS), a UN agency coordinating logistics in the 
camp.

More than 130 families have returned to their villages and hamlets since 
the operation began on Friday. Civil authorities are providing 
transport, but there is a lack of vehicles. "Transport is the main issue 
at the moment. We have 30 vehicles at the moment. If we have enough 
transport, then obviously we can get the people returned faster," the 
UNOPS official added.

The return process is in three parts: registration; medical checks; and 
immunisation where necessary.

"We are doing main vaccines, including those against polio, measles, 
diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT), and tuberculosis. We have 
vaccinated almost 60 children over the past two days," Javed Tajarabbi 
from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. The effort is 
aimed at preventing any outbreaks of disease after survivors leave the 
camp.

There is also an information desk in the camp run by the Norwegian 
Refugee Council (NRC) to provide legal counselling on compensation, land 
disputes and other issues. "We provide the returnees with legal advice 
and the information they need," Shah Jihan from NRC, said.


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