Pakistani displaced find life hard in Karachi

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By Syed Shoaib Hasan BBC News, Karachi

Wilayat Khan went to Karachi in search of work and safety

"Who would ever want to leave their home willingly?" asks Wilayat Khan. "In the end we had two choices - flee or die."

We are sitting in the cramped three-room house he shares with his brother's family in the Pashtun-dominated neighbourhood of Sohrab Goth, on the outskirts of Karachi.

Mr Khan and his brother rented it after they fled their native South Waziristan.

The tribal region is currently the centre of fighting as Pakistani troops take on the Taliban and al-Qaeda who had made the area one of their strongholds.

"Our village is near Ladha and we were among the last people to leave," Mr Khan explains.

He sent his wife and children away, as many others did, when the fighting began in October.

'Survival'

But he and some other men stayed behind to look after their homes and livestock.

"We thought we could at least protect them, as they were all we had."

Thousands have fled the conflict in South Waziristan

But in the end it was a question of survival, Mr Khan says.

"The army had also started using artillery and aircraft to bombard the area. I saw many houses being destroyed."

Wilayat Khan says civilian casualties were caused by the army bombing, but he is not sure how many.

Eventually it became too dangerous to stay in the village and the men joined their families in the nearby town of Dera Ismail Khan.

Getting aid or work, however, proved to be a problem.

"They said you have an address in Karachi," said Mr Khan, who used to work as a watchman in the city.

"You can get work there, so we are not going to give you any goods."

Lost livelihoods

Mr Khan could not find work in Dera Ismail Khan, where thousands of others like him had fled, so he headed to Karachi.

Increasingly people are reluctant to employ the refugees in any but the most menial jobs Ismail Mehsud, Karachi politician

He is still unemployed but helps in his brother's convenience store and is better off than many other migrants.

So far, it is thought nearly 15,000 people have fled to Karachi to escape fighting in South Waziristan.

Most settle on the outskirts and many find work as labourers, watchmen or in Karachi's Pashtun-dominated transport industry.

Abdul Yasin, from Tiarza in South Waziristan, found work at an apartment block in the Gulzar-e-Hijri neighbourhood.

"I act as a watchman and general handyman for the entire complex," he says.

In return he receives a small salary and, more importantly, a room for his 14-member family.

"My brother just arrived and I have to accommodate him as well. He is helping out in the complex till he gets a proper job."

Mr Yasin works as a watchman in Karachi

Mr Yasin's story is similar to that of Wilayat Khan and thousands of others in the Pashtun tribal belt - destroyed homes and lost livelihoods.

This loss has far reaching social and economic repercussions.

"For the time being, most of the families fleeing the conflict in the tribal regions cannot return home," says Ismail Mehsud, a young Pashtun politician in Pakistan's financial capital.

He helps migrant families settle in by providing relief and jobs.

"Initially there were issues, especially with fears that the Taliban could slip in through the ranks of the refugees," Mr Mehsud admits.

But, he says, most of those arrested on suspicion of militant links were just refugees and have since been released.

A senior Karachi police official confirms this.

"The real danger is the stereotyping that persists here," says Ismail Mehsud.

"Increasingly people are reluctant to employ the refugees in any but the most menial jobs."

'Stranger'

He says this discrimination is even taking on an institutional form.

Public schools and colleges in Karachi are now refusing to admit students living in the city, unless their fathers were also residents.

Many houses in South Waziristan have been damaged or destroyed

"I want to continue my education as soon as the new session begins," says Yawar, Wilayat Khan's son.

He would prefer to stay in Karachi and complete his education as the standards are much better.

But the matter may no longer be in his hands.

"This new rule means that none of the new arrivals can admit their children in public institutions," Mr Mehsud says.

"This means most young people will end up sitting at home. The only choices then are madrassas or joining the labour force."

Mr Mehsud says that as getting unskilled jobs is not easy, many young men also end up being involved in crime or jihad (holy war).

"It's a vicious cycle - and the state appears unwilling to play its part," he says.

"Just handing out blankets is not going to help. Increasingly, Pashtuns are being made to feel like second-class citizens."

Wilayat Khan agrees: "I thought all of Pakistan was our home. But more and more, I feel like a stranger in my own homeland."