The exodus of refugees in the valley of Swat

Civilians fleeing the fighting yesterday in the valley of Swat. Some leave with nothing and ends up in refugee camps unprepared. Photo credits: AFP
REPORT - The war against the Taliban was driven from their homes hundreds of thousands of people. They are Islamists, but also the army and the government had made no provision for them.

At the exit of Peshawar, a huge panel displays pictures of the exodus. The worst South Asia since the partition in 1947. They are accompanied by these words: "What we said our province area affected by the war!" Since the beginning of the offensive Swat ten days ago, there would be, according to the UN, more than one half million displaced in the North-West (NWFP). And more than 300 000 prisoners in the valley of Swat, wait for the next lifting of the curfew to flee. Some left with nothing and ended up in camps unprepared, others, less numerous, have found refuge with relatives or friends.

At about fifty kilometers northeast of Peshawar, near Mardan, Jalala offers the sad spectacle of all refugee camps. Under a blazing sun, men and some women are queuing for registration, receive meager rations of food and water. An old woman crying because she can not find his card. Kids to look sad, soiled clothing, are houspiller by adults.

Sharif Khan held a gas station in the district of Dir. It wants the Taliban, but also the government and the army. He is not alone. "Because of the Taliban, I was already working for a long time, but the army shot at us," he says. More than 8 000 people crammed in Jalala. Noor Badshah, the head of al-Khidmat, the humanitarian arm of the religious party Jamaat-e-Islami, the only visible in the camp, said loudly, "the government should have prepared the situation before starting the military offensive. " And, insinuating he, "who are these Taliban? These are not local, they are armed by the United States, India, Israel. "With the tragedy, conspiracy theory, dear to Pakistan, resurfaced. Although there are exceptions.

Fear paralyzes civilians

Ziauddin Yusafzai in part. "The Islamic threat is a snake that Pakistan has nurtured in her womb for sixty years. Now, he spits out his venom to the figure, "says the principal of the valley of Swat. All sides, military and civilian leaders who have succeeded in Islamabad felt well smart, trying to build an aggressive foreign policy by "making" jihadists, "he says. Against India in the east and to the west in Afghanistan to find the so-called "strategic depth" deemed vital to protect themselves ... "Now their corrupting the whole country," says he says. He said it is urgent that Pakistan will concentrate on its own problems.

Ziauddin Yusafzai remained in Mingora, capital of the Swat valley, until the last moment. For three days, he too is a refugee in his own country. He joined the flow of hundreds of thousands of displaced people who flocked to Peshawar, Mardan to ... After putting his family safe in Shangla, a district north of Swat, joined Yusufzai Peshawar where he found shelter with a group of intellectuals. Together, they created a year ago, Ariana Institute of Regional Research and Advocacy, a think-tank which was given the task to consider how to rid the country from Islamist terrorism. Because the teacher is convinced that even if "this time the army air determined to crush the militants in Swat, it is useless as a civil society will not also eliminate the Taliban . It remains to convince her to act.

It will not be easy, he admits, for example taking his school. "The agreement with the Taliban in February called for the reopening of closed schools for girls under their pressure. In my school, classes have resumed for girls ... but the teachers were abandoned. The men said that it is contrary to Islam to teach girls. In fact, they were afraid of a return of the Taliban. "

Fear, Aftab Alam, knows. President of the Bar Association of District Swat, it was in the firing line Islamists mostly to himself. In a small office of the High Court of Justice of Peshawar, where he fell two days ago, he tells his life last month in Mingora. "Once, I received a call of the Taliban at 2 o'clock in the morning. They told me that if I can not wear my costume to a lawyer, it would be my shroud. Another time, they fired at my car, a bullet smashed my computer, but it came out by the window opposite. "He finally left the city in disaster ... because of the offensive of the army.