Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has dispatched 2,500 tents for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Waziristan and Orakzai agencies, said a press release issued on Friday.

According to the statement, the tents would be handed over to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Disaster Management Authority (FDMA), which will be dispatched to South Waziristan and Orakzai agencies. The tents are for families who have recently returned to the area now deemed safe by security forces and are most in need, it said. The head of UNHCR in Peshawar, Oscar Mundia said, “I am pleased that these tents will give shelter to 15,000 people who are currently in desperate need and vulnerable in South Waziristan and Orakzai whereas the UNHCR remains committed to support the authorities of Pakistan to help those internally displaced persons.” The UN refugee agency, as part of the wider United Nations response in Pakistan supports the government with the return of internally displaced people to areas in the country where the security situation has improved, the statement said.

The handover was attended by FATA Law and Order Secretary Shakeel Qadir, FATA Disaster Management Authority Director General Syed Fayaz Ali Shah, and other senior officials from the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

This year the UNHCR has distributed 7,436 tents, 9,385 core relief kits, 14,752 winterisation kits, 3,241 winterised tents, 3,333 plastic sheets and 2,680 shelter repair kits to internally displaced families in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Jalozai camp, Kohat, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai and South Waziristan agencies.