ICC Note:
Christians leaders in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province have criticized the government plan to merge KPK with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). These Christian leaders fear the disorder and security risks the merger will pose. FATA is often considered a lawless area that is a haven for extremist groups, including those that have intentionally targeted Christians and their places of worship in the past. 
03/07/2017 Pakistan (Asia News) – Pakistan’s Christian leaders have criticized the central government for joining the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
“It would be difficult to control the tribal areas,” Lutheran Bishop Jimmy Mathew of Mardan told Asia News. “They deserve a separate set up. Locals have been neglected since the country’s independence from the British in 1947 and it will be long time before they truly understand the notion of nation.”
On March 2^nd, the federal cabinet announced plans to merge the predominantly Pashtun FATA to their neighboring province. The tribal areas on the northern border with Afghanistan are considered a safe haven for jihadist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaeda.
The seven semi-autonomous areas are subject to the Frontier Crimes Regulation. Introduced during the British Raj, it denies residents the right to go to court for criminal acts committed locally.
Collective punishment decided by tribal elders is enforced. There are no schools. Development groups cannot operate in the areas. Residents don’t have access to medical care. And whilst residents vote for the lower house of parliament, the latter’s laws do not apply to them.
The government’s decision starts a five-year process of unification with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. District elections could be held later this year. The central government plans to invest 110 billion rupees (about $1 billion US) in the region.
In recent years several military operations against the strongholds of extremist groups have caused mass displacement. An estimated three million people are internally displaced, forced from their homes into camps or cities.
“Basically it is a human rights free zone,” said Zar Ali Khan Afridi, chairman of the Tribal NGOs Consortium. “In absence of any legislation, locals cannot appeal for their freedom once arrested. Many languish in jail for decades. Jirgas (traditional village councils) cannot replace courts.”
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