Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Peshawar (Agenzia Fides) – The “luckiest” refugees today in Pakistan have no problem finding access to water, food, and tents. However, the effort of the government and humanitarian agencies cannot reach all the displaced persons. Over 8 million out of 17 million people have been affected by the disaster. Thousands, steeped in the deepest misery as a result of the floods, are struggling to survive, wandering in search of a place they can call home, often dying of starvation. This is the fate of displaced persons who live mainly in the more remote districts, like those in the province of "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," until a few months ago known as the “Northwest Frontier Province,” in northwestern Pakistan.
As Fides learns from NGOs working in the area, the humanitarian effort is now concentrated in the large cities and refugee camps that have already been established. Thousands of refugees in remote areas are without any assistance and thus become the privileged recipients of aid and proselytizing of Taliban groups.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, refugees are crowded in the districts of Charsadda, Nowshera, and Peshawar, where programs of government assistance have been set up and many NGOs are operating. Flood victims in the districts of Dir, Kohistan, Chitral, and Shangla, however, do not receive the same attention. “In the district of Kohistan, families in the villages of Dassu, Qabar Valley, Dong Nala, Harban Basha, and Kandian are dying of hunger, because infrastructures such as roads and bridges have been washed away by the floods,” a local NGO reports.
Joseph Masih is one of the volunteers of the Church World Service, Christian-based NGO that has been present in Pakistan and Afghanistan for over 50 years and is now active in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In an interview with Fides, he said: "We take care of the forgotten refugees, those far from the towns, and those who have been turned away by refugee camps. We assist over 10,000 families in this area, especially with food, water, and tents. The government cannot meet all the humanitarian needs. However, our work is a little help in comparison to the great need."
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the high risk areas for terrorism: "There are still ongoing military operations against terrorist groups," says Masih. "We are in an area of conflict and, after the latest attacks, we are on alert. Terrorism wants to take advantage of the fact that the army is occupied with rescue operations."
In the area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, note the NGOs, the lack of aid from the government creates more discontent among the population. This increases the risk of their affiliation to terrorist organizations or Islamic groups that have started aid operations. According to observers, there has now been a welding of two terrorist organizations, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have claimed responsibility for that the latest attacks in Quetta and Lahore and who are also active in northwestern Pakistan.
According to official data, 79 districts of the country (out of 124 total) were affected by floods: 24 in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, 19 in Sindh, 12 in Punjab, 10 in Baluchistan, 7 in Kashmir, and 7 in Gilgit-Baltistan (also known as FANA, Federally Administered Northern Areas). (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/07/2010)
