Nearly three lakhs Swat refugees return home: UN official

The returns are “largely individual and spontaneous,” with the Government providing support in some instances,said Wolfgang Herbinger,the acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. Over the past week,some 280,000 people have returned to Swat and Buner,where he estimated that over half those who had fled fighting have now returned. The vast majority of the two million people who have escaped the violence have taken shelter either in schools and other public buildings,with host families or in rental accommodations,he said. With the monsoon season set to start shortly,the camps housing a portion of the IDPs are in danger of flooding,and the Government “is making efforts to move people and ask whether they want to return” to their homes,Herbinger said.