IRIN
PAKISTAN: Quake-displaced people start returning home from camps
12 April 2007


ISLAMABAD, 12 April 2007 (IRIN) - About 1,500 people displaced by a 
7.6-magnitude earthquake in October 2005 have returned to their areas of 
origin from makeshift tented settlements in Pakistani-administered 
Kashmir, aid officials said on Thursday.

"One camp, named Bab-e-Neelum, is now officially closed since all the 
families from this settlement have gone," said Arshad Aziz, a field 
coordinator with the Norwegian Refugee Council in Muzzafarabad, capital 
of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Since the earthquake, around 30,000 quake-displaced people, comprising 
more than 5,000 families, have been living in about 45 makeshift 
settlements in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, according to camp 
management officials. In March, the camp authorities said they would 
close all tented camps by the end of June this year and quake-displaced 
families would be returned to their areas in two phases.

In the first phase, about 2,700 families who possess land but lost their 
houses and livelihoods in the earthquake are being assisted to return by 
the end of April.

About 250 families have returned so far while another 450 have 
registered with camp authorities.

The second phase, starting in May, will involve landless families. They 
will be given an additional grant of about US $1,250 to help them buy 
land for housing.

Each returnee family is entitled to an assistance package of 14 
corrugated iron sheets, two months-worth of food rations and free 
transportation from the camp to their place of origin.

Although most of the displaced people have started packing their 
belongings to go home since the return process started, many families 
from Jhelum Valley are worried as they do not know where to go.

"They have been telling us that their land has been destroyed by 
landslides but they are not declared landless. Others are fearful of 
landslides in their places of origin during the monsoon, which is due in 
three months' time," NRC coordinator Aziz said.

Recent landslides after heavy winter rains have further added to their 
fears, Aziz said.

However, Raja Abbas, a commissioner at the Camp Management Organisation, 
told IRIN on Thursday that "as we are dealing with human beings, we are 
flexible in our approach and will consider genuine problems of families 
delaying their return."

In tandem with the return process, an awareness campaign has been 
launched for camp residents about the situation in their home areas and 
available assistance.

"The pamphlets carry information about healthcare facilities, schools, 
electricity, road conditions and other relevant subjects," said Salim 
Rehmat, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, 
which is leading the campaign.


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