Thursday, May 21, 2009
Displaced people jostle for blocks of ice at the Chota Lahore refugee camp, at Swabi, in northwest Pakistan, May 20, 2009 (AP Photo-Greg Baker)
Not since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda has there been a such a large-scale humanitarian crisis as the one currently growing in Pakistan. As a result of the massive offensive that Pakistan’s military has launched to root out the Taliban in the Swat Valley, about 2.3 million people have become displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
But unlike Rwanda, where most of the refugees had access to tent shelters, only 130,000 Pakistanis are being accommodated in sweltering camps in the Mardan and Swabi districts. Most of the two million refugees are being squeezed into the homes of friends or relatives, with as many as 85 people per house. Aid workers and political analysts have warned that if something isn’t done to relieve the situation, the poor living conditions could lead to even more political instability in the region.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced on Tuesday that the U.S. would ship $110 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Pakistan. The aid is part of the administration’s new strategy for keeping more Pakistanis from joining the ranks of the Taliban, but it only amounts to about $50 per refugee.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Swat Valley Could be Worst Refugee Crisis Since Rwanda, UN Warns (by Declan Walsh, Guardian UK)
Flood of Displaced Civilians in Pakistan Surpasses 1.45 million (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)
Clinton Details Humanitarian Aid to Pakistan (by Philip Elliott, Associated Press)
Growing Refugee Crisis in Pakistan (AllGov)
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