I. Overview:
From 14 to 16 April 2016, a mission including the Humanitarian Coordinator and OCHA Head of Office (o.i.c) conducted a two-day visit to Kurram Agency. The team visited New Durrani camp, recently denotified areas of Central Kurram and villages where returns took place two years ago to gain a better understanding of the immediate humanitarian needs of returned IDPs.
II. Background:
Between 2009 and 2014, insecurity and sectarian violence forced the displacement of people in Kurram Agency. These IDPs were displaced to other areas within Kurram or to neighboring districts. From March 2015 to March 2016, more than 3,000 families returned to their areas of origin in Kurram Agency. The remaining 20,500 IDP families, 14,000 are expected to return between April and May 2016. New Durrani camp located in Lower Kurram was established in 2011 and currently has an estimated population of 3,225 IDPs (as of April 2016), including over 2,500 families displaced from Khyber Agency. These families continue to await their return despite being issued with voluntary return forms and the suspension of food rations since March. Administratively Kurram is divided into Lower, Central and Upper Kurram. The Political Agent noted that IDPs either need to return before Ramadan (which starts early June) or delay due to poor weather conditions until 2017, increasing the period of their displacement to seven years.
The IDPs the mission met with expressed their wish to return as soon as possible.
III. Mission Objective:
To gain a better understanding of the:
Humanitarian situation and priority needs in Kurram Agency;
Humanitarian response in Kurram Agency; and
Main challenges faced by IDPs in New Durrani camp and by IDPs that returned two years ago and are now in the early recovery phase.
IV. Delegation members:
Neil Buhne, Humanitarian Coordinator
Alexandra de Sousa, acting HoO OCHA Pakistan
General Tahir (retd.), Civil-Military Coordinator, OCHA
Farman Khilji, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, OCHA
Sadia Bangash, Coordination Assistant, OCHA
