The Balochistan government has ordered approximately 5,000 families in Kalat’s Shoor Paarod area to leave their homes by October 30, warning that residents who refuse to leave will be removed by force.
The relocation plan, approved by Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, affects around 30,000 people living in the mountainous area. They are to be moved to designated camps.
Speaking at a press conference in Quetta on Tuesday, Additional Chief Secretary for Home Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat said residents had been instructed to vacate the area and that camps and other arrangements had been made.
“If they do not vacate the area, the forces will remove them by force,” he said, adding that an operation was already underway in Shoor Paarod.
Officials claimed the area was government land and said the evacuation was needed because of the presence of armed fighters
Similar orders were reported last month in Nushki, where residents of Killi Bhutto, Killi Harooni, Killi Ahmadwal and Killi Jorkain were instructed to leave their homes for approximately two months ahead of a possible military operation.
Read More | Pakistan Army Orders Evacuation of Noshki Areas Ahead of Possible Military Operation
Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Sammi Deen Baloch had raised concerns about displacement in Shoor Paarod and other parts of Balochistan in a statement earlier this month.
She said families who depended on small plots of land, crops and livestock were losing their livelihoods when forced to leave their ancestral areas at short notice. In unfamiliar towns and cities, they faced difficulties finding accommodation and work, continuing their children’s education and caring for their livestock.
The government’s responsibility extended beyond issuing evacuation orders, she said. Authorities also had to provide protection, alternative accommodation, livelihoods and basic services, and ensure a voluntary, safe and dignified return.
“Forcibly displacing people from their land can neither establish lasting peace nor provide genuine security,” she said.
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