Baloch activist raises alarm over demolitions, rights violations in Balochistan
Baloch activist Sammi Deen Baloch has accused authorities of violating fundamental rights through forced evictions, home demolitions, and supply restrictions across Balochistan. She stated that decades of displacement destroy families' ancestral roots, economies, and cultural identities, and demanded proper protection and relocation guarantees for affected residents.
Balochistan [Pakistan], October 17 (ANI): Forced evictions, demolitions of homes and prolonged restrictions on essential supplies are violating the fundamental rights of communities across Balochistan, Baloch activist Sammi Deen Baloch has alleged, as reported by The Balochistan Post.
According to The Balochistan Post, Sammi, daughter of forcibly disappeared Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, said decades of displacement had uprooted thousands of families, separating them from their ancestral lands, homes and traditional sources of income.
Incidents recorded in 2026 stretched from Mastung to Gwadar, including Shoor Parod, Nushki, Chagai and Kharan. She said some residents had been ordered to vacate their homes, while other settlements had been demolished, leaving families with little time to relocate.
Prolonged curfews and road closures in Zehri, Mashkay and Zamuran had also restricted access to food and other necessities for months, further intensifying hardships for residents.
Sammi highlighted the precarious circumstances of impoverished families in remote areas, many of whom rely on small agricultural holdings, crops and livestock to finance food, education and healthcare.
Sudden displacement, she argued, destroys these economic foundations and leaves families struggling to find accommodation, employment and schooling for their children in unfamiliar locations. She maintained that security considerations could not absolve authorities of their responsibility towards displaced populations.
Any relocation, she stated, must be accompanied by adequate protection, alternative housing, livelihood opportunities and access to essential services, alongside guarantees of safe return.
Sammi further argued that removing communities from ancestral territories without clarity about their return amounted to more than a humanitarian crisis, as highlighted by The Balochistan Post.
It undermined their ability to preserve their identity, culture, community relationships and control over their future.
Drawing on her own observations, she said families uprooted from their traditional surroundings often faced isolation and uncertainty when forced to settle in unfamiliar cities without relatives or community support, as reported by The Balochistan Post. (ANI)
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