2578 families displaced in Balochistan to make way for CPEC: BHRO

Lahore [Pakistan], Jan. 7 (ANI): Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO) has said that a total of 2,578 families have been displaced in Balochistan in order to make way for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). "These people have been forced to leave their homes in Hoshab, Awaran, Jhalawan and Koh-e-Suleman and move to Karachi, Turbat, Hub Chowki and other areas," Pakistan Today quoted BHRO chairperson Bibi Gul Baloch as saying while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. Bibi Gul demanded the media and other stakeholders to assist them in highlighting the issues that the people of Balochistan are facing. She urged the media to report the number of people killed, abducted and forcefully detained in the province, adding that new development projects are of no benefit to the local population. According to her, a total of 607 people have been killed in Balochistan in 2016 and 113 of these were unidentified bodies. In the same year, thousands of people have been abducted and have gone missing and BHRO has managed to collect details of only 1,809 of them. Baloch activists have continually voiced their concern to the international community against the human rights abuses being committed by Pakistan in the province and have criticised the CPEC for illegally capturing their lands. The USD 51 billion CPEC cuts through the entire north-south length of Pakistan and is aimed at giving China access to the Gwadar Port that it has helped construct on the Balochistan coast. For Pakistan, CPEC is critical as it looks at the project as a potential to galvanize its sagging economy. (ANI)