In the Spring of of 2009, at the urging of the United States Government, Pakistan’s military began a series of large scale assaults within its own borders against Taliban insurgents. These continuing operations have resulted in a total internal displacement of over 3 million Pakistanis, with an estimated 1.25 million of these currently still facing the arriving winter as homeless refugees in their own country.  

The ongoing wave of displacement in Pakistan is the single largest population movement recorded in the country since it was created in 1947. Under pressure to tackle the militancy which has taken root in the country, the government has launched successive military offensives in the past months across several districts of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), including Swat, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), including Mohmand, Bajaur, and South Waziristan.

In early July 2009 there were between 2.7 and 3.5 million IDPs in NWFP alone, and 30 camps were operating across the Province. However, most were anxious to return to their home areas as soon as fighting had moved on, and in November the UN estimated around 1.25 million people were still displaced.

The ostensible reason for the large scale military operations in these border regions is to destroy the Taliban.  That goal has yet to be achieved.  What has been achieved is an humanitarian crisis of the first magnitude.