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Lahore: Rehmat Hamid, who runs a small cafe not far from the railway station at the heart of the city, is a pleased man.
As he issues orders from behind the rickety table at which he sits, fleet-footed waiters rush around, handing over cups of tea, glasses of cool lime sherbet or small steel plates filled to the brim with steaming curry to customers who crowd the tables.
"I have just hired a team of new workers, and things are going well. These are all young boys from the Bajaur Agency, and they are very hard workers," says Rehmat.
The waiters, aged between 12 and 19 years, are cousins who recently fled fighting in the tribal area on Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan. "Our family got to Lahore, by train from Peshawar, just four days ago. We are very lucky, five of us have already found work at this cafe," said Ayaz Khan, 19, who has also worked briefly in Peshawar.
Ayaz and his family are among the 40,000 or so who have fled Bajaur, where fierce fighting continues between militants and Pakistani troops.
The displacement is the biggest seen in Pakistan for decades, and camps have been set up for affected families in areas adjacent to Bajaur.
Not in their nature
However, some of those forced to leave their homes have fled further south, to Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other cities, pointing out also that they need to earn a livelihood.
"We can't just sit in tents and live on government handouts. It is not in our nature," said Zahid Khan, Ayaz's younger brother. Their father too is seeking work, possibly gardening.
In other places too, employers have hired people displaced from tribal areas as labourers, watchmen or attendants at petrol stations, saying they are "very good workers".
The numbers as yet are limited, but many believe they may expand. "The situation in Bajaur and also the other tribal areas is very uncertain. We may opt to stay away for some time, maybe even years, " says Ayaz.
Those who he and his relatives have displaced are naturally displeased. "It is just a myth that Pathans, from the north, work harder," says Mahmoud Ahmad, 26, who had worked at Rehmat Hamid's cafe till recently. He also argues the migrant workers are willing to work for lower wages, and are as such "spoiling the market."
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