The federal government announced the start of the repatriation process on July 13 following the three-month offensive against the Taliban in North West Frontier Province.

The military claims that more than 1,800 militants and 166 security personnel died in the operation. Security forces are still conducting search operations in the northern tribal areas.

According to Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, 177,610 out of the 329,792 registered families displaced from Malakand division have returned home.

The refugees also include Christian and Sikh families who were ordered by the army to leave their homes.

The Church of Pakistan has been running three camps for about 600 displaced families in Mardan and Peshawar using two churches and a technical center. About 350 of these families have returned home since the repatriation process began.

The family of Ayub Masih, who have been living at Sarhadi Lutheran Church in Mardan, will be returning home too.

Speaking to UCA News on Aug. 6, the sweeper from Batkhela near Swat said, "We are happy to leave today for home after having waiting three months for this moment." He said the money the government has given as compensation to displaced families "might last for a few months during which I will keep searching for a job."

Masih hopes that things would improve in his town where there have been severe food shortages because of lengthy curfews.

Caritas workers distributing relief items to displaced Christians at Sarhadi Lutheran Church -- Photo: UCAN/Pakistan

Most of the 485 Sikh families taking refuge at gurdawar (Sikh places of worship) in Peshawar and Hasan Abdal also left in late July. "About 80 per cent have returned and those staying are the ones whose houses were completely destroyed," said Sardar Kalyan Singh Kalyan, secretary-general of the Guru Nanak Ji Mission, a Sikh organization.

However Kalyan still has doubts regarding the security of minorities in the conflict-hit areas. "I cannot predict a peaceful existence for Sikh minorities. They might have to move to other provinces in the near future," he said.

Anila J. Gill, national executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan, said she disagrees with federal government claims that the military has "eliminated" the Taliban militants.

"The government has to make plans to address not only reconstruction but also the root causes of extremism," she said. "The Taliban kidnap young boys and train them in camps to become mujahid (warriors of God). The militant groups have their recruiting centers in all provinces especially in parts of Punjab both in the north and south. Thus terrorism is not only limited to Swat."

According to Caritas Pakistan's Disaster Management Department, the organization has distributed tents, mattresses, pillows, bed sheets and fans to those displaced.