- Geographical Context
On the Northwest of the Khyber lies the larger and more fertile Tirah Valley, the original home of all the Afridi tribes.
Tirah Valley is a region located in Kurram and Khyber agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
It lies between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley. It is inhabited by the Afridi and Orakzai tribes of Pashtuns.
Linked to Kurram and Orakzai in the South and Afghanistan on the West, the over 100 kilometer long Tirah is a beautiful valley in Khyber agency (with a small part extending into Orakzai). Cut off from the rest of the civilized world by any road, railway or air link, and without any vestige of modern civilization, it is a sort of no man's land ruled by the indigenous people themselves, effected by it or a Jirga system, involving the tribal elders as the judges as well as executioners of their rulings.
- Situation Context
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have been experiencing significant movement of local population since 2008 because of government operations against non-state armed groups as well as sectarian violence. Since August 2008, more than four million individuals have been displaced due to crisis in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). At present, three registered IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps are in operation in Jalozai and Togh Sarai in KP and New Durrani in Kurram Agency, FATA. An estimate reflects that 156,473 families remain internally displaced in KP/FATA due to the ongoing conflict, of which 17,456 families are living in-camp and 139,017 families are living off-camp in host communities. Large-scale spontaneous and government-assisted returns to areas of origin have occurred each year. However, expanded security operations in Khyber agency, FATA, have resulted in nearly 64,000 families registered as newly displaced from Khyber agency since January 2012. During the past month, 2,200 displaced families fled to host communities in the Kuki Khel tribal area of Jamrud Tehsil in Khyber agency to relative safety.
- Fresh Displacement from Tirah Valley, FATA
The situation is becoming worsened due to expanded security operations in Khyber agency that resulted in 2,200 fresh displaced families from Tirah Valley. People from Tirah are forced to move to Jamrud, another sub-division of Khyber agency. Since, there is minimal military presence; therefore, local people are not able to put a strong front against militant groups. Recent figure1 suggest that, local authorities had registered more than 1,900 families (about 13,300 people) displaced from 10 villages in Tirah Valley.
Local sources at ground suggest that the entire population of Sra Vela, Ghakhi, Bagh, Ochay Ounay, Bharrai, Purrhi, Puk Darra, Maniyakhel and Daman-i-Koh had moved out of their areas. Further two dozen families had opted to stay back at Toor Darra in Abdalkhel locality of Tirah and a similar number of people had gone to Ningarhar province of Afghanistan, while the rest about 1,500 families had relocated to Jamrud and temporarily residing with their relatives.
Affected families left their homes due to planned security operations against non-state actors in the area. According to local authorities, up to 5,000 families may be displaced to Jamrud in the coming weeks if and when security operations commence. Humanitarian partners estimate that up to 18,000 families (50 per cent of the population) could be displaced from Tirah Valley this year due to security operations.
Local authorities has provided 2,000 bags of wheat flour and food packages to all the displaced families in Jamrud and Pakistan Red Crescent distributed packages of non-food items (tarpaulin sheets, blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans, kitchen sets, kitchen stoves and hygiene kits) to 250 vulnerable families. However no detailed assessment has been carried out to date to outline the needs for the fresh displacement from the Tirah Valley. Quite recently, Islamic Relief Pakistan has distributed Ramadan Food Package to 847 families in Jamrud.
In response to present situation, Basic Human Rights (BHR) has carried out detailed assessment exercise in collaboration with Kher Khegara Tanzeem (KKT), a local organization natively from Jamrud Khyber Agency, to determine the needs of the IDPs.