Displaced Tirah families face mismanagement at registration centres

KHYBER: As fresh evacuation from the restive Tirah valley continues, displaced families have complained of mismanagement at registration centres and prolonged delays at security checkpoints on their way to Bara.

Families told Dawn on arrival in Bara that they had to undertake a laborious journey of over 100 kilometres, with women, children and the elderly facing the greatest hardship. They said they were made to wait for long hours at the Bagh, Dwa Thoye and Paindi Cheena registration points in extreme cold weather, without access to drinking water or food.

The displaced people also complained that ailing family members were without essential medicines and healthcare facilities. Long queues of vehicles transporting families from Tirah to Bara, Jamrud and Peshawar were seen at registration centres and security checkpoints, forcing people to wait impatiently for their turn.

Evacuation of families is continuing ahead of a planned full-scale military operation against terrorists in Tirah. Newly displaced families said it took them three to four hours to obtain registration tokens at the Bagh Markaz, followed by another four to five hours for security clearance at various checkpoints.

Several families said they were forced to spend the night at Paindi Cheena, where they reached around midnight for final biometric registration after what they described as a “torturous” registration and clearance process. Many had tied their belongings in bags and loaded them onto vehicles, only to be left stranded in the open.

Most displaced persons feared that evacuation under such conditions could turn into a humanitarian tragedy, as registration centres lacked basic facilities and authorities appeared unprepared for the scale of displacement. They also complained about delays in the payment of promised transportation charges, alleging that district administration and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) officials issued “empty tokens” and paid only part of the amount after repeated demands.

An internally displaced person (IDP) told Dawn that registration staff behaved rudely and refused to provide guidance or assistance to distressed families. Some displaced people claimed that proscribed militant groups had taken hundreds of families hostage in areas under their control by forcibly stopping vehicles and compelling residents to stay behind.

They further alleged that law enforcement agencies were not allowing food and other essential goods to be transported to certain parts of Tirah, in an effort to hasten evacuation ahead of the military operation. Sources said many families were struggling to find transport due to an acute shortage of vehicles, while transporters had significantly increased fares.

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Shopkeepers at Lar Bagh and Bar Bagh Markaz said they were facing difficulties shifting their merchandise to Bara due to the lack of warehouses. After sending their families to safety, many traders said they had stayed behind to arrange the safe disposal of goods.

Sources in Tirah said most newly arrived IDPs were staying with relatives, while some had their own houses in different areas of Bara. With no alternative accommodation provided by authorities, some families rented houses and shops in Qambarabad market near Bara Bazaar.

Meanwhile, the Bara Siyasi Ittehad and the Bara Traders Association urged the district administration and the PDMA to establish tent villages in Bara and Jamrud to cope with the influx of displaced families. Sources said between 450 and 500 families were arriving in Bara daily.

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