Swat terror traumatizes children

t('articles.tweet')

* denotes required field.

• Your name *
• Email to *
• Comments *
• CAPTCHA *

Reset

MINGORA, Pakistan -- Maryam, 4, runs away from men and takes cover behind her mother if you get too close to her.

The fear started after suspected Taliban militants killed her father after dragging him and his two daughters from his car in broad daylight in the Matta tehsil of the Swat district.

She is one of many children who were traumatized by the conflict that climaxed in May 2009, when some 2.5 million civilians fled their homes in Swat and the neighbouring Buner and Lower Dir districts to safer areas before the military launched a “decisive offensive”.

“Since that day she does not like to mingle with men. She stays with me most of the time”, Maryam’s mother told Central Asia Online from Bedara village in Matta tehsil, where residents say they were brutalized by the Taliban. “Maryam is totally a changed girl now after this barbaric act of the Taliban”.

Ilham, Maryam’s 5-year-old sister, was also traumatized by what the Taliban did. However, she is recovering at a Child Protection Centre (CPC) at Upper Bedara village. Such centres opened after Operation Rah-e-Rast (‘Right Path’) helped restore the central government’s writ to over 90 percent of the district.

Some 90 centres, funded by UNICEF and run by the Aurat Foundation, the Hayat Foundation and the Sustainable Peace and Development Organization (SPADO), opened November 1 for two months. Their operations were extended through December 31, 2010 to better serve the needs of children in the area.

Such centres exist in only 30 local councils; the other 35 local councils have not yet been declared safe. Suicide attacks, bombings and public beheadings by militants – not to mention the military response - have been part of daily life in the district. Aside from the human cost, the government will need to spend some US$860m to rebuild destroyed homes, schools, hospitals and damaged infrastructure.

Mustafa Kamal, monitor of upper Bedara CPC, said that children between the ages of 2 and 18 have been rehabilitated by psychologists and teachers who are trying to take “Taliban-created fears” out of their minds.

“The conflict has traumatized people from all walks of life, but children were hit hard and it will take time to get these affected children back to normal life”, Mustafa said in an interview. “If there is peace and the security forces take full control of the situation in the district, we hope these children will be rehabilitated and they will resume their schooling as soon as possible”.

The lack of qualified psychologists hampers the humanitarian organizations’ efforts to help the disturbed children.

“There are not many qualified psychologists in the districts and psychologists from other cities are reluctant to come to Swat”, said Muhammad Umar, Aurat Foundation CPC Coordinator for the district. “What we did was that we arranged short courses for local teachers and they are helping to rehabilitate the children”.

Mustafa cited the effect of the violence on one child, Mehnoor, 11, of Kuza Dareshkhela in Matta tehsil. “If she hears helicopters, or you say ‘Taliban’ in front of her, that scares her”.

“When there was fighting (between Taliban and security forces) mortars rained on our village and several times our home was hit. All the children were severely affected by the conflict,” Mehnoor told Central Asia Online, adding that she and other children will soon return to normal with the help of this centre.

Javed Akhtar, coordinator for the SPADO-run child protection centres, said thousands of children were affected by the conflict. “There are Taliban and military-linked fears among the Swat children and displacement by the conflict also left deep scars on their mind,” he said.

Muhammad Adnan, 13, was a brilliant student before the conflict. Today, his mental health worries his parents. “The conflict has changed him. He is a scared boy today. He locks his room from the inside (when) he hears gunshots”, Fazal Wahab said of his son.

“I am scared by gunshots and my hands and legs shiver when there is cross-fire,” Adnan said in broken Urdu.

The conflict has not only traumatized children. Men and women have been suffering too, as social life has been disrupted by the conflict, Akhtar said. Still, helping the children recover is the main concern.

“I believe rehabilitation of the affected children will take some five to seven years and these centres should continue to run as long as we have not helped all these children”, Akhtar said.