25 June 2009As the estimated number of displaced people in Pakistan increases rapidly, the British Red Cross has made a
£215,000 donation to help get food to those affected – but more money is urgently needed. More than 2.5 million people have fled their homes in the north-west of the country,
as a result of ongoing hostilities between security forces and armed groups in the region. Around 75-80 per cent of these people are not housed in official displaced person camps but are
staying with host communities, which are now becoming severely strained by the numbers of people in need.Intense fightingThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
remains the only aid agency with access to the Swat Valley and Dir regions, where the fighting is intense, and still needs up to £22 million more to meet the needs of the civilians affected.These people need basic healthcare, food, water and shelter – and as the monsoon season approaches, their situation may get even worse.Ros Armitage, British Red Cross operations
manager for conflict, said: "Although the British Red Cross launched its Pakistan Crisis Appeal last week, the situation is sufficiently urgent that we are also releasing £200,000 from our
Disaster Fund, plus £15,000 from a corporate donor, to help pay for food for around 7,500 families."An additional £10,000 from the corporate donor will be used to fund a nurse who
will be seconded to the ICRC's field hospital in Peshawar.Read more about the appealRead what we are doing
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Internally displaced children, who fled a military offensive in the Swat valley region, fight over bread near a food distribution centre at the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) Jalozai ...
