Islamic Relief aid workers in North West Pakistan are deeply concerned about the number of children lost and separated from their families due to the escalating violence. Children are becoming lost in the chaos as people flee their villages and make their way to the emergency camps over 50km away. Some have been reunited with their families but others are still searching for their loved ones.
Islamic Relief aid worker Habib Malik returned from the region today and expressed serious concern about the extent to which children are being traumatised by the experience. "At the entrance to the camps I saw many people, mostly children and the elderly, gathered and begging the security guards for information about their families," said Habib. "They wanted to know if those they had been separated from had turned up in the camp or if anyone had seen them. It was heartbreaking to see the looks of despair on their faces when they were told that the answer was 'no.'"
The escalating conflict in North West Pakistan has displaced up to two million people, two-thirds of them children. Those separated from their families are staying with fellow villagers in the camps, while others have found shelter with local families. According to government statistics around 70 per cent of children are showing signs of trauma.
Habib Malik said, "Children are very distressed and unable to sleep at night. They are startled by loud noises especially the sound of aircraft, sometimes shaking with fear. These children have left behind their whole lives and everything that was familiar to them is gone. All they want is to be reunited with their families and go back to their normal lives."
Islamic Relief is delivering emergency aid to displaced families in Mardan and will be focussing its efforts on helping traumatised children. We will be helping to reunite children with their families through village-to-village tracking, providing psychosocial support for traumatised children and adults by setting up trauma recovery activities in school buildings and creating child-friendly spaces that will benefit over 25,000 children.
Habib Malik arrives in the UK today and is available for interviews. Case studies and images are also available. For more information or to arrange interviews please contact:
Helen Mould: +44 (0) 7855 499 645 or +44 (0) 121 622 0719
Jamsheed Din: +44 (0) 7720 451 310 Or +44 (0) 121 622 0663
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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