JALOZAI CAMP: The internally displaced persons (IDP) uprooted by conflict with the Taliban face a miserable Eidul Fitr, with no cash to splash on celebrations and a longing to return to homes they fear no longer exist.
“All I want is to go back home this Eid,” said Khalida Bibi, a 10-year-old girl standing in a queue to collect packages from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the Jalozai camp, southeast of Peshawar.
In a family of 10 brothers and sisters, Khalida remembers presents, money and new clothes for Eid festivals at home in Bajaur, where the government launched a military operation against the Taliban near the Afghan border last year.
“When we were at home in Bajaur, we enjoyed Eid a lot. We wore new clothes, new shoes and had our wrists full of bangles. We got money and gifts,” Khalida said.
Old clothes: “This year, we’ll wear old clothes on Eid because we have no money to buy new ones,” she said, her green tunic and blue headscarf slightly grubby.
The UN said about two million Pakistanis were displaced as a result of fighting between the army and the Taliban, which the United States branded an existential threat to the nuclear-armed country.
Officials say 1.65 million have since returned home, but a fresh operation launched this month in the Khyber district, a major supply route for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has displaced another 56,000 to 100,000 people.
While most IDPs seek shelter with friends and relatives, many of the poorest have crammed into 17 dusty refugee camps where morale is low despite handouts from charities and assistance from UN agencies.
“We celebrate Eid in terrible circumstances. We’re sad and worried. Our home was destroyed during the operation,” said Bibi Gul, a 40-year-old mother of 11 who fled fighting in the Mohmand Agency.
Shamsur Rehman, a 21-year-old from Bajaur, wears a brown shalwar kameez as he watches UNHCR staff distribute Eid packages.
“When I was in Bajaur, all our friends got together on Eid. We used to beat drums, dance and sing. We had a lot of fun. Now everything is finished,” said the father of one.
“I don’t know when I’ll go home, when peace will be restored and I can sing and dance again on Eid,” he added.
Economic malaise: With inflation at 11.17 percent, shopkeepers believe even well-off families were spending less on Eid luxuries as the country struggles from extremist attacks, fighting with militants and economic malaise. afp
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