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FROM THE FIELD

Phone interview with Robert Przedpelski, camp manager at Swabi camp, Pakistan, Saturday 4 July 2009
09 Jul 2009 12:02:00 GMT
 Source: British Red Cross Society - UK
Website: Website: http://www.redcross.org.uk/

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Background

•  Resource wars

•  Pakistan violence

•  Food and hunger

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Swabi camp in Pakistan is home to almost 20,000 people, spread over two sites (camps 1 and 2). Robert is the camp manager, with overall responsibility for both sites. Robert has been at Swabi for 3 weeks, and is employed by the ICRC as part of their Rapid Deployment team. He has 14 years experience in the field, and has previously worked for the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and IFRC (International Federation of the Red Cross) in Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka.

"The monsoon is the top priority for me at the moment. We don't know exactly when the rains will come, but we are aiming to have everything in place within the next two weeks. It's hard to say exactly what will happen, that depends on the intensity of the rains, but we must prepare for the best and the worst scenarios.

"We are looking at moving a large proportion of Swabi camp, roughly about 70% of the camp. That's a huge operation. We've obtained some neighbouring land, which we are in the process of preparing at the moment. The ground has to be levelled, then we need to build latrines and wells, it's a lot of work, but we're working flat out and I have a very good water and sanitation team on the job.

"There are other factors to consider, such as health implications. For instance, we must prepare for eventualities such as a cholera outbreak. We have plans for a cholera treatment centre, which would be situated about 1km from the camp, and the health and medical staff are preparing for any increase in diseases.

"My main preoccupation right now is getting ready to move the camp to higher ground. We have one location, and we are close to finalising another plot of land. It's a hell of a lot of work, and in the meantime we must continue with the everyday work of the camp - surveying IDPs, looking at their needs, helping to reunify family members who have been split up - all this work goes on.

"I believe we can manage it. We have deployed water and sanitation resources, we have very experienced workers, but of course there is no way of knowing exactly when the rains will come, or how bad they will be.

"It is a very frustrating situation for the IDPs. These are people who have already had to leave their homes, and now they must move again. The local authorities have helped to set up electricity to some areas so we can have fans to cool people down, and of course people are less willing to move as the heat as been so intense and they are trying to keep cool. The temperatures have been around 45C, it is even hotter in the tents, and people from the Swat valley, who account for about 75% of the people here, are used to temperatures more similar to the climate in England.

"I would say we are still in a very crucial period now, it is still an emergency. It may be an ongoing emergency, but it's still an emergency."




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Topics

•  Food and hunger

•  Refugees & displacement

•  Resource wars

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

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Last updated:Thu Jul 9 12:07:30 2009