Working Paper Saad Sayeed, Radha Shah Division Global Issues Displacement, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Repatriation and Rehabilitation Stories of Dispossession from Pakistan’s Frontier SWP Working Papers are online publications within the purview of the respective Research Division. Unlike SWP Research Papers and SWP Comments they are not reviewed by the Institute. Ludwigkirchplatz 3−4 D-10719 Berlin Telefon +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] Wor king Paper FG8 April 2017 SWP Berlin Table of Contents Working Paper .......................................................................... 1 List of Abbreviations ................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................... 6 History of Displacement in Pakistan ............................... 10 The Government Agencies .................................................. 13 Mobility and Livelihood: How IDPs Live ......................... 17 Could They Be Terrorists? Negative Perceptions of FATA IDPs ................................................................................. 22 The Non-Governmental Response .................................... 23 These Are Our Stories, Please Tell the World................ 26 Looking Ahead: Policy Recommendations .................... 29 List of Interviews.................................................................... 31 SWP-Berlin Displacement, Repatriation and Rehabilitation April 2017 2 List of Abbreviations ANP – Awami National Party CNIC – Pakistani Identification Card DIK – Dera Ismail Khan, city in Khyber Pakh- tunkhwa province FAFEN – Free and Fair Election Network FATA – Federally Administered Tribal Areas FDMA – FATA Disaster Management Authority IDMC – Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDP – Internally Displaced Person IOM – International Organization for Migration ISI – Inter Services Intelligence, the Pakistan Army’s intelligence wing ISPR – Inter Services Public Relations KP – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan’s northern- most province bordering the FATA MQM – Muttahida Quami Movement NADRA – National Database & Registration Authority NOC - No Objections Certificate NDMA – National Disaster Management Authority PDMA – Provincial Disaster Management Authority PMLN – Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PPP – Pakistan People’s Party SAFRON – Ministry of States and Frontier Regions TTP –Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan UNDP – United Nations Development Program UNHCR – United Nations Human Commissioner for Refugees UNOCHA – United Nations Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs URC – Urban Resource Centre SWP-Berlin Displacement, Repatriation and Rehabilitation April 2017 3 Executive Summary 1 There are four primary issues here that are important to consider: first, anyone listed as working outside the FATA cannot register as an In the years following September 11, 2001, there IDP; second, not all FATA residents have a valid have been unprecedented levels of internal Pakistani identification card, called a Computer- displacement in Pakistan. Ongoing military ized National Identification Card (CNIC); third, conflicts in the country’s north have displaced most women from the FATA do not have CNICs, approximately 5.2 million people displaced since meaning widowed women who are not the heads 2009, while the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in of households are unable to register; and finally, 2005 left 3.5 million people homeless, and floods many families who were initially afraid of in 2010 affected a further 20 million. During this registering with the state and missed the window time, the country has begun developing a can no longer claim benefits. Despite this, UN disaster management infrastructure, which did records are collected only for registered families, not previously exist until 2007. The various based on these numbers, where the state is government, non-government, and military claiming an 80 percent repatriation rate. organisations involved claim to have successfully repatriated the majority of displaced peoples. Another issue with the calculation of repatria- Although some earthquake and flood affectees do tion figures is that a large number of people sign remain in displacement, due to ongoing anti- up as IDPs but return only to collect their state and sectarian violence in the country’s housing benefits. Many return to see their homes Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), large after years of displacement, but they do not numbers continue to be displaced from the return to the FATA. They have established lives in region, particularly North and South Waziristan. other parts of the country or find that it is not This paper will outline the country’s history of feasible to rebuild their homes and lives in the displacement, but its main focus will be region. In addition, many have grown tired of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from these living under the draconian, colonial-era frontier regions, part of a dispossessed population that crime laws that govern the FATA, allowing the continues to live in conditions of instability armed forces to punish entire communities for throughout the country. While this population crimes committed by individuals. These has not been the focus of extensive research, restrictions also mean that FATA IDPs have found flawed data collection of their numbers, the it impossible to have their voices heard and paucity of their voices in humanitarian aid believed. Their stories rarely appear in the media, recommendations, and the lack of planned in print or on television, in English or Urdu, government programming to facilitate their meaning there is a lack of awareness on what is return and the rebuilding of their homes happening on the ground in the FATA and no significantly shapes their experiences. empathy toward the displaced. Again, this has significant consequences when it comes to aid Analysis of the scale of displacement from the procurement and delivery, and also on how aid FATA is based on data whose collection is highly and reforms are managed. flawed. The government and United Nations agencies have only collected data for registered The lack of civil society support and aid delivery, IDPs – people who possess valid identity cards compared to that provided to IDPs from earlier and have signed up at government registration disasters, makes repatriation for conflict affected sites to list themselves as displaced during a FATA IDPs particularly difficult. The region is limited sign-up period. Only these individuals subject to high levels of security, and the military and their families are eligible for state benefits. and government have placed numerous restrictions on NGOs attempting to operate 1 This Working Paper was written within the frame- there. Foremost is the procurement of No work of the project entitled “Forced displacement and Objections Certificates (NOC), which are no development cooperation – Challenges and opportuni- longer being granted to many organisations ties for German and European politics”, funded by the because of the kind of work they are producing German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. about the region. Therefore, in the name of SWP-Berlin Displacement, Repatriation and Rehabilitation April 2017 4 security, the state intelligence agencies have also begun to curb dissent and critically important relief work in the FATA. This corresponds with a pre-existing and now growing xenophobia in Pakistan that informs public perception of FATA residents and regulates what kind of assistance they are willing to provide. Increasing anti-FATA attitudes have not only limited the interest civil society has in the regions; they have also limited FATA residents’ access to mobility and employ- ment opportunities. Advocacy workers and FATA IDPs themselves talk about not being able to travel freely across the country, being subjected to surveillance while living in cities and towns, and not being granted jobs on the basis of their point of origin. This means that while living in displacement, families are unable to move forward with their lives because they are unable to settle in their new communities. The state has taken few measures in dealing with the displaced peoples despite a long history of managing both IDPs and refugees. A disaster management authority at the national and provincial levels was only developed in 2007 after the 2005 earthquake. These bodies are still only mandated to handle natural disasters and not to administer aid to conflict-based IDPs. Govern- ment agencies are therefore handling disasters such as the one in the FATA on an ad hoc basis and are often not equipped to respond in a timely manner. Finally, there are serious allegations against the Pakistan Armed Forces about their role in the FATA both in terms of how the locals are being treated and in terms of what kinds of deals are being made with the Taliban. The FATA is also undergoing legal reforms, with the region slated to become part of the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. While this is a welcome legislative measure, there are concerns about whether locals have been consulted on how this process might be initiated and also on how tribal customs are being turned into law. While this paper does not discuss this reform process in great detail, it does consider the lack of democratic processes in the region. This is a significant area for policy intervention: