Displaced Pakistanis to return home June 25

August 27th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan and Britain have agreed to facilitate the return of thousands of Pakistanis who are detained or living illegally in the United Kingdom. Interacting with media persons after a meeting with British Home Secretary Allan Johnson here, Pakistan Interior Advisor Rehman Malik said both countries have reached an accord to facilitate the return of the illegal migrants.

August 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Germany has given Rs.1.17 billion (about $14 million) in aid to Pakistan to help the displaced people in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Online news agency reported Friday. The funds will be used to purchase food for the displaced people as part of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

August 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Most Pakistanis hate the Taliban as much as they consider United States as their enemy, a recent opinion poll has reveled. According to Pew Global Attitudes poll about 70 percent of Pakistanis are now against the Taliban's violent policies.

August 10th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Around 115,458 displaced families from Swat, Malakand and other conflict-hit areas have returned home since the process of rehabilitation began on July 13. A majority of the families used private transport for their return, with the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) saying that only 30 percent of the displaced families opted for the transport arranged by the government, the Daily Times reports.

July 14th, 2009 ABU DHABI - The US has hailed the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) support to the people displaced in the ongoing conflict in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley, WAM news agency has reported. US Ambassador to the UAE Richard G.

July 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said the entire focus of the government will now shift to the rehabilitation of displaced persons and rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure in Malakand Division. He was addressing a select gathering of international donors, NGOs and civil society who had contributed to the relief of the displaced person in and off camps and who were specially invited to the Presidency to honor them for their efforts and contributions.

July 13th, 2009 JALOZAI CAMP - Many of the thousands displaced by fighting between the military and Taliban in north-western Pakistan began returning Monday to their homes in parts of the Swat Valley. Authorities transported families from tented camps set up in the districts of Nowshera and Charsadda, located close to the Buner district which was overrun by the Taliban in April, prompting a government offensive.

July 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The displaced Pakistanis should not be forced to return to their homes until the security situation improves in the northwest, the UN has said. UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said the conditions have to be right before people are encouraged to return.

July 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the international community should come forward to help the displaced people in the country's northwest battered by the war against the Taliban. The displaced people in the Malakand Division will start returning to their homes from July 13 onwards, the Online news agency said Thursday citing the Pakistani leader.

July 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United Nations (UN) has said that the Pakistan government must ensure the safety and security of all those people who have been displaced due to the military offensive in Swat and Malakand Divisions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), before asking them to return to their homes in the valley. The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, who arrived here on a four day visit, said displaced people must not be forced to return to their homes, and added that the UN is concerned and trying hard to address the problems of over two million homeless people.

July 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - More than two million Pakistanis who have been displaced by the ongoing war between security forces and militants, but who have not got admission into any relief camp, are in appalling condition as they have no access to government aid, the Amnesty International has said. The government must ensure the ethnic Pashtuns fleeing the fighting in northwest Pakistan do not face discrimination in receiving assistance, the Online news agency said Saturday, citing the rights group Amnesty.

July 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said Wednesday the military operation against the Taliban will continue till the militants are eliminated from the country. Zardari made the comments during a meeting with Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

June 9th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The UN has opened three new camps to house the displaced Pakistanis fleeing the war in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said. The displaced Pakistanis continue to pour into the camps as their homes were ravaged in the conflict between the security forces and the Taliban, the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.

June 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday called on the US to write off Pakistan's debt to help Islamabad overcome the current economic crisis aggravated by the war on terror, a media report said. Gilani told visiting US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, during a meeting at his house that the debt waver would help Pakistan to mobilise resources for the displaced people in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Geo TV reported.

June 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US has accused private Pakistani channel Geo TV of bias in reporting America's efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of the millions of civilians who have been displaced by the military's anti-Taliban operations in the country's northwest. In an interview with a Geo TV correspondent after visiting a refugee camp near Mardan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), US special envoy Richard Holbrooke advised the channel to tell the truth to Pakistanis about the huge financial assistance Washington was providing for the displaced persons.