Pakistan: Displacement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA remains high

PESHAWAR [ACTED News] – More than 16,000 of the over 33,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kurram Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), have been unable or unwilling to leave. 77% of this population resides in off-camp areas, heightening their vulnerability and placing greater strain on host communities also threatened by conflict. Humanitarian stakeholders have been unable to provide substantial aid to such areas in FATA; however ACTED has recently pioneered activities for on-camp IDPs, off-camp IDPs and host communities in Kurram Agency to establish and secure food security and livelihoods. This project is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Total number of IDPs in KPK and FATA remains high

The number of new displacements from FATA has decreased from 27,136 in mid-March to 544 in mid-June, and the number of returns is slowly increasing; yet the total number of registered IDP families remains high (151,162). Almost 90% of this population resides in off-camp areas on the border and within FATA, continuously straining host resources. Noting the high vulnerability of IDPs unable to leave FATA as well as off-camp IDPs in the border areas, ACTED has begun food security activities in Kurram Agency, FATA, while prompting discussions on water, hygiene and sanitation activities for off-camp IDPs in neighboring districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.